By John D. Harden, Staff Writer

Published Oct. 22, 2014

Since arriving at UNCG, I have heard it said many times by many students: “We don’t need textbooks.”

After all, we use Google for everything anyway. Sometimes we spend over $100 on a single textbook that lives a long life as a paperweight under a desk in your apartment.

Now with that being said I have to make something clear:

If you paid any sort of money for your textbook it clearly contains some practical information for broadening your mind.

Not only do I love the tangible nature of my books, but also I appreciate the simplicity in referencing needed data via a table of contents.

And while the simplicity in executing these tasks digitally are almost equally as convenient (i.e. typing, searching, etc.), they are, in my opinion, lack in achieving personal satisfaction.

Personally, what mainly deters me from relying on the Internet and search engines for credible information is the fact that many, if not all, search engines are geared towards the sale of a product.

In many cases, targeted advertisements will be present in the margins of websites, even scholarly ones.

To me, this is a glaring distraction. I am not interested in the products I Google searched a day or so ago, mainly because I already researched them thoroughly. 

So when things like ads for boots appear whilst accessing my online textbook, something is wrong.

For this reason I stick to physical books.

Now, let me be clear, Google is a godsend for millions of people, but not necessarily for scholarly purposes.

Let’s face it: more Millenials than not use Google every day, for a broad range of reasons.

Unfortunately, typing into the search-bar the names of your favorite celebrities in class is one of those, and it has the ability to serve as a major distraction. 

I agree that while having the ability to immediately access billions of facts via your computer, smart phone or tablet is highly convenient and gives a gratification with minimal effort it does less to stimulate our minds.

Jumping to Wikipedia for a “find x” type of call and response is almost pointless; to really understand a historical event or ideology you need to do more than read a summary on the web.

Another aspect of this argument is the fact that although textbooks may be generally expensive for most students, especially when ordered through the university bookstore, many of them are being bought by your parents money.

Even if your 4th edition won’t be good next semester to sell because it will be updated, it can’t be too much of an issue if you didn’t have to shell out the cash in the first place.

In an article by Kami Rowe at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga (UTC), entitled “Students Pay For Textbooks They Don’t Use,” the author details examples of how to avoid climbing costs of textbooks sold by the university bookstores.

The article explains where “the new textbook dollar goes”, citing a figure that cross-sections the specific, collective costs of textbooks sold through the university bookstore.

This does an appropriate job of illustrating the breakdown of costs that make up these rising textbook rates.

In order to accomplish this the study recommends other options, such as Amazon.com, in order to keep costs lower by buying directly from an alternative supplier.

The bottom line for me is that books are more personal, more tangible, and require a level of critical thinking that forgoes any Google search.

The requirements for comprehending larger concepts and even the most basic data are more in-depth than skimming other posts online.

Truly understanding your course and the ideas therein takes a critical spirit, meaning you make the effort to explore and discover via your own means.

This should prompt you to dust off that art history book from last year and brush up on your Giotto, just for the sake of doing so.