A new program to encourage college students to buy digital textbooks is expanding this month. And many of the books will be sold at a greater discount than originally offered.
MBS Textbook Exchange Inc., of Columbia, Mo., the textbook distributor that is leading the project, announced that an additional 30 bookstores at colleges across the country will start selling as many as 400 digital textbooks. The distributor said the program it launched in the fall with five academic publishers at 10 college bookstores was a success.
Under the expanded program, the books will sell for as much as 45 percent less than hard-copy versions. When the program was first unveiled, the electronic books were discounted 33 percent .
MBS said it surveyed students at campuses that offered the digital textbooks and discovered that the biggest factor in students’ decision to buy digital textbooks was their price. Student said the books should be discounted between 33 percent and 50 percent. According to MBS, the most popular electronic books sold were in the fields of history, law, and technology.
For more on the digital textbook deal, see an article from The Chronicle by Andrea Foster.
