Generally, Ebooks do not provide anything special, as most are simply the electronic version of the hard copy textbook.
If the Ebook licence has been used, you cannot sell the Ebook/PDF second-hand. The new price of many Ebooks are increasing to 70-90% of the new price of the hard copy textbook. Schools using only Ebooks, means parents having to buy new Ebooks every year with no ability to sell a second-hand text.
A hardcopy textbook can be bought and sold many times second-hand, and generally are used for 4-6 years before being updated to a new edition. Additionally, digital books usually require the purchase of a iPad or other device ($400 to $3,000), a hard copy textbook does not.
Second-hand textbooks exist for one reason - they lower the cost of student resources for families each and every year. The equation goes something like this:
Many families know that most of the textbook requirements for the coming year can be close to cost neutral (my second-hand textbook sales cover the cost of my purchases), in fact, many families depend on this equation.
All Publishers enable the digital PDF part of the hard copy text to be reactivated or continued to be accessed via a paid or unpaid activation. Details of such for each publisher are provided below.
There are texts that offer additional digital learning resources, that may or may not be a mandatory requirement of the school. Many of these additional digital resources are just study guides or other helpful links that may be from the publisher or are freely available on the web.
Often, publishers will update the digital licence attached to a hard copy textbook, to a parent, the textbook then appears to be a new edition, when in fact the hard copy textbook has remained unchanged and only the digital component has changed in some manner. The new textbook/Ebook 'package' is also given a new ISBN.
Book Suppliers are now offering a digital wallet to help students access all their Ebooks in one place. Some new textbook suppliers charge a fee for this service. Alternatively, students can easily upload their Ebooks themselves creating a short cut on their device to each of their Ebooks. Publishers provide excellent support for this process.
Most schools consider Ebooks as optional, and all mandatory ebooks will be separately displayed on the booklist and will state the Ebook must be purchased.
Some schools have totally removed Ebooks form their booklists as they have found information retention for students to be lesser when compared to a hard copy textbook and as such, the learning outcomes to be poorer. Furthermore, many schools require year 11 and 12 students to have a hard copy textbook for most subjects as this is when study scores become most important for both the student and school.
There have been many studies that have looked into the effectiveness of an Ebook verses a hard copy book, the article below describes one study that assessed the outcomes of over 20 studies, it comes from the University of Velencia.
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/dec/15/reading-print-improves-comprehension-far-more-than-looking-at-digital-text-say-researchers
Publishers have also assessed the carbon footprint of Ebooks verses hard copy textbooks, findings showed hard copy textbooks to have the smaller footprint, seems counterintuitive but the findings were easily defendable once you drilled down into the detail.
OXFORD Books:
Digital activation of Oxford textbooks is free for all editions published prior to 2019. For these editions still in use, digital access is available after January 1 using the code in your second-hand textbook.
Edition published 2019 onwards: the price of reactivating the code in the textbook is between $20-$25. Find below links to assist through that process.
https://help.oup.com.au/hc/en-us/articles/4414999973647-How-to-purchase-an-obook-renewal-licence-for-an-expired-product
https://help.oup.com.au/hc/en-us/articles/4414999914127-How-to-purchase-an-obook-using-a-secondhand-activation-code
Oxford IB textbooks are sourced from the UK and do not fall under this licencing arrangement.
CAMBRIDGE Books:
Cambridge for 2024 has changed their arrangements and now charge for reactivation of their digital component for most texts $24.95. There still may be some titles that can be reactivated without charge. All codes in texts can only be reactivated a maximum of 3 times. To check the code is valid, Cambridge offers an online code checker which can be found at: www.cambridge.edu.au/codecheck
To activate a Reactivation code, users must have a matching code from the inside front cover of a second-hand textbook.
To get started go to Cambridge GO - https://www.cambridge.org/go/
Create or Log in to your Cambridge Go account and click on the "Add New Resources' button. Enter the code from the second-hand textbook, you will be prompted to enter the Reactivation code. After both codes have been entered in Cambridge Go, the resource will be added to your account.
Cambridge IB books currently do not have reactivation of digital codes available.
JACARANDA Books:
The digital code in the text includes a LITE version that is simply access to a digital copy of the text, that can be used again with a second-hand text purchase without further cost. Learn On and Study On access will require the full access licence to be purchased again if these codes have been activated. Pricing is $45-50 depending on the text.
MATILDA EDUCATION:
Pricing differs on our reactivation codes depending on the product- please refer to our website for current reactivation code pricing for each product:
Good Humanities $30-32.95
Good History $25-28.50
Good Science Vic $29.50
Good Science NSW $37.50
Macmillan Global Atlas $19.50
Scienceworld $29.95
The process of activating the reactivation code can be found at the walk-through video below:
https://www.matildaeducation.com.au/pages/digital-product-faqs
(Video 2)If using a reactivation code, customers need to have registered an account with us on the MyDigital platform. Video 1 below explains this registration and login process:https://www.matildaeducation.com.au/pages/digital-product-faqs
Matilda Education have two different pricing structures for reactivation codes in 2021. Year 7-10 ScienceWorld - $16.95. VCE Accounting and Legal Maze - $18.95.
CENGAGE (Nelson) Books:
Many Nelson textbooks include 4 individual access codes, allowing 4 years of digital access to Nelsonnet at no additional cost.
Nelson is moving to providing a single access code on new editions with the ability to reactivate each year. Current cost for reactivation is $20.95 and can be purchased through Specialist School Book Suppliers. Please check with Cengage customer service.
PEARSON Books (Includes Heinemann):
Pearson have two pricing structures for reactivation codes. The reactivations for Year 7-10 titles will be $20.50 valid for between 15 and 27 months depending on the text.
The re-activation charge for all Year 11-12 titles will be $25.50 and are valid for 27 months.
You will need to contact the Publisher for further details regarding the reactivation.
IB products - the product is for the life of the book. If a student buys it second-hand then they can use the code in the book as long as it has been 6 months since it was first used.
EDROLO:
Edrolo products often come as a digital licence and a separate hard copy textbook. Over the past years, the hard copy textbook has not been able to be on-sold due to updates in edition, with Edrolo producing a new edition for each year.
You will need to rely on your school to provide advice regarding these products, and if the text is saleable second-hand.