by neolesson
Who keeps textbooks anyways
January 3, 2010 in College, textbook by neolesson
Open-source textbook firm Flat World Knowledge has raised an additional $2.5 million in funding. The company said back in March that it had raised $8 million in a first round of funding—but a spokesman says that round was expanded because of “momentum” in its business. The startup says that this fall more than 40,000 college students at 400 colleges used its textbooks, which it makes available for free online and are registered under a Creative Commons open license, up from 1,000 students at 30 colleges last spring. The additional funding comes as there appears to be a growing movement among students and colleges to find alternatives to purchasing high-priced textbooks. Rental textbook firms Chegg and BookRenter have both raised their own rounds in recent months.
Separately, Flat World Knowledge says it has signed a deal to supply some of its digital textbooks to Bookshare, which has an online library for people with disabilities that affect reading. More about that development in this release.
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College students are able to rent college textbooks online today rather than having to pay the sky-high prices for brand new books. Renting textbooks on the internet is becoming increasingly popular, considering the price of obtaining a college education rises each year by around four percent. If you are a college student and wish to save a considerable amount of money, textbook rentals are the way to go.
There are many online companies from which to choose from if you wish to rent college textbooks. Some companies offer you more options than others and some are more affordable than others as well. Students who choose to use textbook rentals can rent the books for as long as the books are needed, and many companies even offer the option of allowing students to extend the rental period.
If you wish to rent college textbooks on the internet you can begin by running a simple search on the web. Simply type in the search term ‘rent textbook’ or something similar and you should be presented with numerous textbook rental companies to choose from. Be sure take your time when shopping around on the web for a company to use as prices vary considerably, as do the options offered. Some of the rental companies offer expedited shipping, free shipping and no¨charge return shipping when you are finished using the book. It is estimated that a student can save anywhere from 65 to 85% by renting their books, compared to having to buy them brand new. This is a very significant amount of savings to the average college student who is working with an extremely tight budget. The money saved can undoubtedly be put to great use elsewhere.
Some rental companies will include any software packages that are needed for some courses while others will not. Even if you select a company that does not include the software, you will still be saving a considerable amount of money renting, so you most normally will have the available funds needed to make that additional purchase.
No matter what courses you are enrolled in, you should have little problem finding all of the books you need online. It is very simple to use a company who specializes in textbook rentals once you have chosen the service you wish to go with. You normally just need to create an account, browse and select the books you need, pay and then in a few short days your books will arrive in the mail. You may even have the option of having the books insured for peace of mind.
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