Associated Students UCLA textbook buyers are working on a preliminary plan to carry more electronic textbooks, though there is no fixed timeline for the transition.
The plan involves getting third-party input and working with publishers, said Neil Yamaguchi, ASUCLA academic support director. The hope is to make e-books more widely available, while ensuring that teaching and student learning remains unimpeded, Yamaguchi said.
“(E-books) just seem to be where the industry’s headed,” said Dale Imahori, an assistant textbook manager and buyer for ASUCLA. The association is trying to join the transition to e-books, he added.
Currently, few students are buying e-books from ASUCLA, but Yamaguchi said it is important for the association to stay on top of industry developments.
“It’s like any other industry,” Yamaguchi said. “Things are changing, and we’ll make adjustments.”
The plan is aimed at expanding student options as well as bolstering ASUCLA sales, Yamaguchi said.
“We want to remain the central hub of student distribution regardless of how content is distributed,” he said.
While e-books are convenient, paperless and cheaper than traditional books, Yamaguchi said ASUCLA will continue to carry books for all preferences because the majority of students prefer reading from hardcover books.
Rather than force e-books on everyone, ASUCLA wants to develop new systems and services to make the textbook experience more fulfilling for students, he said.
Mioy Huynh, a fourth-year chemistry student, said both types of books are useful, but hardcover books are more expensive.
For math or science classes, however, he finds hardcover textbooks easier to use because he can flip back and forth between the pages when working on homework problems.
Yamaguchi projected that e-books will become a stronger partner to hardcover books in three to 10 years. And at some point, there will be a tipping point from a majority of hardcover to e-books.
The transition to e-books might take some time, however, in part because ASUCLA is waiting for a more consolidated form of e-book, Yamaguchi said. The fragmented nature of the market means that a number of different types of e-books exist, which could complicate the transition, he said.