In order to save money, college students often purchase their textbooks online at a reduced price. Saving money is great, especially on those expensive textbooks. However, textbook-buying online can sometimes be a blind process, so it can be quite risky. Sometimes when buying books, students may purchase the first textbook they see for a class without checking what edition the book is. When the book arrives and they go to class, some students are reading older editions while the rest of the class is reading the shiny new seventh edition. All books are created equally, right? Wrong! Edition numbers are very important on books. If a student has the wrong edition of a text, he may be missing out on vital information that is included in updated editions.
Instructions
1. Check the front cover of the book. The book edition should be written on the front cover, usually underneath the title.
2. Open the book to the copyright statement page. While checking for the edition number in the copyright statement, look under the "Library of Congress Cataloging" section. There should be a catalog entry that follows this format:
Line one: Author, last name, first name.
Line two: Book title/authors or editors, followed by the edition number.
If the print edition is located here, your job is done.
3. Look for an ISBN number. If you are ordering a textbook, ask your campus bookstore's cashier for the ISBN number for the book you are ordering. If you have your professor's contact information, ask her for the ISBN number if it is available. If you already have your book, the ISBN number is located on the back cover above the barcode. There may be a 10-digit or a 13-digit ISBN number listed; either is acceptable. If the ISBN number is not printed on the back of the book, flip, once again, to the copyright statement page. The ISBN number is located under the Library of Congress Catalog entry.
4. Go to a book retail website such as Amazon.com or ecampus.com. If you have an ISBN number, input the number in the search box--ecampus.com has a specific search box for ISBN numbers. Once you click "Enter," the book that the ISBN number is assigned to should show up. In the description, the edition number should be listed along with the book title, author and publishing information.
5. Complete checking all of the above information. If all of your information matches the information your campus bookstore or professor gave you, you are ready to order your textbooks for class.
Tags: ISBN number, copyright statement, edition number, campus bookstore, copyright statement page, front cover