<p>On many of the comegetused sellers descriptions they say something like</p>
<p>"cheap blah blah cd included, reader included"</p>
<p>what's the "reader"?</p>
<p>I’m guessing adobe acrobat reader?</p>
<p>A reader is just a copy of a bunch of different articles that your professor wants you to read besides your textbook. These are most common in humanities/non-science courses. They usually change from year to year so an old reader might not be too useful to you. </p>
<p>That said, readers can get quite expensive :(.</p>
<p>…and a lot of times you will only read a fraction of the articles >.< Damn ESPM for 2 readers!!! Each $50!!</p>
<p>Readers are my least favorite method of obtaining reading material. The professor thinks they’re doing you a favor by compiling this information into a single document – the reader, photocopied for your enjoyment – and they are certainly saving you from buying 20 extra books (or providing documents out of print/otherwise inaccessible), but: 1) readers generally can’t be resold; 2) readers can be pricey, especially if the prof goes for the bling options like plastic or full-color covers; 3) as calbear2012 says, much of the material within will go unread.</p>
<p>I had to buy two thick readers for a history class. They had a plastic protective cover, a perfect bound spine, and were about 400 pages each. $90. We read all of 150 pages. >:|</p>