When I was a student, we had paper books. I would highlight passages, take notes, write answers to test questions (usually in pencil so I can erase and do again later).

I want to read some textbooks and learn new things in retirement. Can I do the above w/ digital books? Especially the part where I can type in answers to questions (for example, language books where it asks you to fill in a vocab word or sentence).

If I buy textbooks for Apple Books or Kindle, (iPad or Macbook), can I do this? Or some other app / service?

I'm guessing there must be a way - how do kids survive with ebooks w/o being able to take notes like above?

I'll see that, and raise you one 'better', which is really MUCH worse here in reality! My wife was taking college classes at SNHU, and we were surprised (astonished!) to learn that you don't even get to keep the digital textbook! The digital textbook is expensive to begin with (as I recall, pretty much priced like an actual looks/feels/smells hardcover textbook), and you basically have to give it back/return it, as you lose access to it. You're NOT even allowed to keep it! Welcome to the digital age...

If you're pursuing degree, especially a technical degree, there are textbooks you'd definitely want to keep as a resource, except you can't!

quote:

Originally posted by konata88:

If I buy textbooks for Apple Books or Kindle, (iPad or Macbook), can I do this? Or some other app / service?

I know for sure that Kindle allows you to highlight things, and I believe that there is a way to make notes, as well. You can check the Kindle Guide.

^^^^^^

quote:

I believe that there is a way to make notes, as well.

That’s certainly correct. In addition, you can “bookmark” one or more pages.

Yes, you can highlight, add comments/notes, bookmark passages, copy/paste quotes (sometimes with auto-generated citations), etc.

I don't know about writing directly on the fill-in-the-blank portion, though. I've never needed that. Typically when you add a comment/note it's either in a sidebar or it's a pop-out text box. But if that's a necessary function of that specific textbook, they would have designed something built in to accomodate it. It's not just a scanned image of a printed page... The textbooks are typically purposely written and designed around being digital these days.

BTW – I found an Amazon website that enables me to view ALL of the Clippings (Highlights and Notes) in any of my purchased Kindle books. Probably library loans as well, although I’m not sure of that.

Thanks guys.

Wow, times have changed. I would be pissed about paying the cost of a textbook (I remember paying $100-300 per book) just to rent a digital copy. At least back then, you could sell the book back or to someone next taking the class.

Looks like highlighting and taking notes (as appendages to the page, not really on the page; not ideal) is possible. But I need / want to be able to 'write' directly on the page to fill-in-the-blank.

That last part is critical. I'd rather buy a paper version than not have the capability in the digital version. Sounds like this is book specific and may not really be enumerated as a feature of the book (no way to know until you buy and try it?)? Hard to imagine that this isn't considered in digital book development. But perhaps such is the life w/ 'modern' sw developers.

^^^^^
I generally add a note by highlighting a region of text. Then a pop-up appears with several options, including the offer to compose a note relevant to the highlighted text.

After I’ve done that the highlight has a handle. Clicking on that handle brings up the note for reading or editing.

So if you highlight that “blank” you can, in effect, fill-in-the-blank.

Maybe even an advantage since the blank text (the answer to a question) is concealed so you can test yourself to see if you still can provide the answer.

I have no experience with (or, fortunately, need for) digital textbooks, but I do have opinions about electronic books, i.e., ereaders, in general. I have owned Barnes and Noble Nook devices for years (I’m on my third version), and although they are very convenient for several reasons, they have significant drawbacks, and I can’t imagine wanting a serious study textbook in that format.

One problem that may not be applicable depending upon the size of the device being used for reading is the legibility of illustrations such as photos, maps, graphs, etc. If it’s possible to enlarge or zoom in on illustrations, great, but if not ….

By far my biggest complaint about the Nook systems is the difficulty in moving from one part of the book to another. There’s a map at the front of the book or chapter, and now I’m many pages on but want to go back to check the map. With an actual book, all that’s necessary is to flip back and then forward to where I was reading, obviously not so with a digital version. The same is true to a degree with footnotes. There will be a little link to click, but when we get to the footnotes section, how to get back? Well, click on the number of the note, but what if we didn’t pay attention to the number? Click on the wrong one, and you’ll go either to before where you were reading, or after, and then what?

It’s also easy to inadvertently click or otherwise do something unintentional and end up who knows where in the book, and no obvious way to undo it. I put a little sticky sheet on my Nook covers with recent page numbers so I can use that function if necessary.

Yes, it’s possible to make notes, but it’s a somewhat cumbersome process and, most important, they’re not going to be obvious when flipping through the text to review something.

My Nooks are great for reading fiction thrillers or nonfiction if I don’t anticipate having to jump from one part of the book to another. It’s far more convenient to use one while lying in bed rather than some massive tome that wears me out just holding up. I also like being able to purchase and download new works in literally a few minutes. They also have a search function that works well as long as I can remember the proper search term and it’s not so common that it produces myriad results. Paper books have what we call “indexes,” though, and many of them will sometimes include a bit of context to help decide which listing we want to check.

Does any of that apply to digital textbooks? I don’t know, but if I needed one for serious study, I would make every effort to find out before going that route.

^^^^^

quote:

By far my biggest complaint about the Nook systems is the difficulty in moving from one part of the book to another. There’s a map at the front of the book or chapter, and now I’m many pages on but want to go back to check the map.

I’m not familiar with the Nook, but here’s how I do that on my Kindle:
* With a book open, I touch near the top of a page.
* I then see a row of icons, one of which is 3 horizontal parallel lines.
* I touch that icon and a “Go To” pop-up appears with a list of numbered chapters.
* Touching one of those takes me to the beginning of that chapter.
You might look for something similar on your Nook.

Graphics are marginal on my Kindle too. 300 dpi, but only 16 shades of gray. A Kindle fire is much better for graphics, but it’s not good in direct sunlight.

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:
I’m not familiar with the Nook, but here’s how I do that on my Kindle:

Thanks for mentioning that. The Nook does have a similar feature. If I tap the right part of the top of the page, then the three lines show up (if I don’t, then the page turns—the first annoyance). That brings up a menu with Contents, Annotations, Bookmarks, and Lookups. If the feature is used just right, then it is possible to move around with some accuracy, but woe to the reader if the wrong thing is tapped. Also, although the Bookmark feature is useful if it’s applied at the right time, in a “Now, what was that?” after the fact desire to find something, then it’s too late.

To restate my complaint about moving around in the Nook, it is possible, but it’s often slower than it would be with a paper book, and don’t make any mistakes with all that tapping and looking lest one be faced with tapping through countless pages and sections trying to remember where we last stopped reading.

In any case, though, thanks for reminding me of a feature that I don’t often use. And of course, I have no idea whether any of my complaints apply to a digital textbook. If it’s being read on a laptop computer rather than a small dedicated ereader, then some features may be easier to use.

For those that would like to keep or print their digital textbook.

There is software that will remove the DRM software lock.

You can then save it as a pdf or print it.

A list of some of software is here.

https://epubor.com/drm-removal-software.html

I have not done this in a long time so I have not used any on the list.

YMMV

I always enjoyed selling my books back after my last final every semester and then going to the Pub on campus to celebrate…