<p>I know there are other threads about this, but I can't seem to find this answer (or at least find it very easily!)</p>
<p>This is probably too late for the upcoming semester, but maybe for future reference: How in the world do you get the ISBN for books that you need to buy? My daughter needs a $300 Anatomy book. On the bookstore site, the title is abbreviated, it says "sorry no image available", and it seems to have some type of "add-ons" that go with it. I searched around at textbooks.com, amazon and a few other places, but I can't be sure if I'm looking at the exact correct textbook. Of course, when I called the college bookstore, they told me it is against their policy to give out ISBN's. Real shock, right?</p>
<p>If I have my daughter try to ask around (other students who have already taken the course) how can I be sure it's not a newer version of the book this fall? (The bookstore ONLY sells it new by the way.) Am I just stuck between a rock and a hard place here? We got all of her books at the campus bookstore last year - freshman year. But seeing that $300 price tag really freaked me a little!!!!! And not having the option to buy is "used" from the bookstore is bugging me more. Any thoughts? Thanks.</p>
<p>If there are no used ones, perhaps this is either a new book or a new edition of the book. My DD asked a friend who was going to summer school to go to the bookstore and write down the ISPN.</p>
<p>ok–Is your D going OOS? Basically I would go down to the bookstore flip the books over find the ISBNS (10 and 13), write it down for all the books I need. Then search borders.com or amazon.com.</p>
<p>Does your campus bookstore offer an online pre-order option? This is what we use to get the ISBN. My son logs on and then clicks a link to buy/pre-order textbooks. It directs you to a site powered by Barnes and Noble and it automatically uses his schedule to put the list of books together. I write down the ISBN numbers and then empty my cart. </p>
<p>Fall of last year we did order from the bookstore but in the spring we bought some used online. I will say that anything you’re not absolutely positive she’ll stay in is worth buying at the bookstore. My ds was in a geology class and dropped it the second day. it would’ve taken a lot longer to get the money back if I had to return it to an online site.</p>
<p>DS’ bookstore (Barnes and Noble on campus) did not include the ISBNs. He sent emails to the Professors to find out what the ISBNs were and in science classes to find out which add ons he needed. He got answers back every time although sometimes it would take a while.</p>
<p>And after his sophomore year, he had buddies who were on campus for other things during the summer and he did ask them to drop by the bookstore and write down the ISBN’s.</p>
<p>My school didn’t have an online bookstore, and the textbook portion of the bookstore wouldn’t open until a few days before class started. I found that books on Amazon/Half tend to be a little cheaper right now as opposed to right before classes start, so I would usually email the profs in the middle of the summer and ask them to give me the name, author, and edition of the book for the class - I usually didn’t ask for the ISBN, but those three things were typically enough to be able to find the book online.</p>
<p>If that doesn’t work, I’d just try going when the bookstore opens a few days before classes start and writing down the ISBN, then ordering it off Half/Amazon with expedited shipping.</p>
<p>We are able to find the ISBN numbers at an store in the same town as my daughter’s school which lets you search by class on their online site (not sure how they get the info - the school must tell them despite being in competition). When I went back to school last spring I did not know how to find out the info in advance on the books I needed. So I bought the books from the campus book store then ordered them online and returned the books to the campus store once the online ones arrived. The school has a policy that books can be returned for a full refund before the drop date. If the books from the bookstore were anywhere approaching a reasonable price I probably would not have done this, but as their 2nd hand books cost more than buying ***brand new ***online (and I bought used online at a savings of hundreds of $$s), I had no qualms. Now I have discovered the schools online bookstore so can do everything in advance.</p>
<p>This is not 100% foolproof, but this is what I do:</p>
<p>1) Find the title, author, and EDITION from the website, bookstore, or the professor
1a) Did I mention EDITION?- (although an old edition may have almost the exact the same content/ homework questions, you don’t know)
1b) The professor might know the ISBN, but especially during the summer may be away from his/her desk and not know the ISBN off hand
2) Search Amazon for the correct title, author, and edition
3) Click the books with the right editions
4) Scroll down to ISBN-10 on the Amazon Page & write it down
5) Enter the ISBNs for all textbooks on a site like bigwords.com or allbooks.com because it finds the cheapest combination of books to buy
6) Sell the book back online (after the course, after dropping the course, or after getting the wrong book)
6a) Sell the book to another student (after the course, or after dropping the course)</p>
<p>Note: I think the ISBN changes if the textbook version is a hard back or paper back</p>
<p>Is the syllabus posted online yet? I’ve always emailed instructors directly if the syllabus wasn’t posted and asked for ISBN’s. If you don’t get an answer, ask the administrative assistant for the department what book Professor X is requiring for (fill in the class name/number); they have to provide that to the bookstore a few months before the semester so the bookstore can order them.</p>
<p>These responses surprise me. I teach at a community college and make a point of giving my students the ISBNs for their textbooks many weeks in advance of the semester. I’ve seen the prices our bookstore charges and want them to be able to take advantage of online stores, ebay, and textbook rental companies.</p>
<p>The College Opportunity and Affordability Act of 2008 mandates schools to place the ISBN on their websites for online courses, so I searched D’s school’s site for her freshman courses offered as Summer 09. Most of them were online and I also found syllabus and course info on the department websites.</p>
<p>My question is, are the International Editions truly the same as the US editions - they say they are but has anyone actually bought them? I see that abebooks has sellers with new international editions for much less than US editions…why is that? Is there any reason not to buy them?</p>
<p>Often you do not need the book prior to the first day of class, either. My D had many books for several classes and after researching prices, got them online at lower prices. She has never gone to class book in hand Day 1. Maybe she is lucky but so far, so good. If you take some time with the ISBN, edition (super important) and the other info, using search engines etc. you can save some money.</p>
<p>International editions are usually black and white paperbacks. The text is not spaced as nicely. They do not have the same ISBNs as domestic editions, so it’s harder to sell them back. I don’t know if they have the same content. </p>
<p>It’s advantageous for students to have textbooks the first day so they don’t get behind in the reading. However, students who don’t have their textbook are in good company. Sometimes students borrow the textbook from public/ school library or even buy a used book from the bookstore and return it when their book comes in.</p>
<p>As the parent of a private school student, I have to purchase his books. We get the list of books with the previous year’s final report card including ISBN. We only have an onllne bookstore.</p>
<p>Over the weekend I went shopping. Two books had to be purchased from the online store because I could not find them online elsewhere. The rest all came via Amazon’s textbook site at a tiny fraction of the cost of buying them from the official online store. I saved over $250 on $450 worth of books. ($100 from official store, $350 NOT purchased from official store, $95 purchased from Amazon’s site.)</p>