Instead of spending hundreds of dollars on books, students are getting their books for free – on iGoogle.

To use iGoogle to download textbooks, students can make a free account with their e-mail and a password.

YouTube is also offered to students from the Web page. A student can have their online textbook open and can search lectures or videos at the same time.

According to the iGoogle Web site, using iGoogle isn’t just a way for students to download free textbooks. It can also provide recommendations after a search has been made. If a user downloads a fiction novel, iGoogle can recommend others that are similar.

Junior Jacintha Rathasamy is a frequent user of the iGoogle Web site, but not for the downloading of textbooks.

‘I put all of my e-mail accounts on iGoogle. It is set as my homepage,’ Rathasamy said. ‘My iGoogle account offers me all of my e-mail accounts, including gmail, and then shows recent and occurring news stories, as well as the weather for the day.’

There are other Web sites that offer downloading of books, such as the iChapters Web site, but only the first chapter of the book is free. The remaining chapters cost $1.99, plus more if a student decides they would like to print out the chapter.

According to iChapters, e-textbooks on their site are always 50 percent off, which can save some students from shelling out cash.

Freshman Bryan Craig has never heard of the iGoogle Web site, but thinks that its cool to have this new service offered to students.

‘I have never heard of this before, but more power to the students that use this,’ Craig said.

Many students have heard of iGoogle, but not many know that they can use it for downloading free textbooks.

‘I personally think that it’s easier to just buy used books from the bookstore or books from the Student Book Exchange,’ said Craig. ‘I don’t pay for my textbooks because my mother pays for them for me, so it’s not one of my top concerns at the moment.’

Craig said it all depends on what people prefer using: a laptop or a textbook.

‘I think that it is nicer to have a book in front of me that I can take notes in and highlight and do whatever I need to do in it,’ Craig said. ‘I would assume that it would be easier to follow along in class with a textbook, rather than having to scroll down pages and pages to find what section we’re discussing and also having to spend time getting onto a wireless network, than just quick flipping to a page.’

According to iGoogle, downloading textbooks has the possibility of becoming more and more popular, but it all depends on what students prefer using for their class material sources.

Steve Overholt, the course materials manager for the University Bookstore, said he is curious about the use of iGoogle for free textbooks.

‘We offer digital and web textbooks at the BGSU bookstore, as well as textbook rental, as an affordable alternative,’ said Overholt. ‘So far, BGSU students have saved $85,354 by renting textbooks instead of buying since we started text rental in Spring 2008.’

Overholt said the Bookstore has been working to make more books available for students to rent.

‘We buy all the used books we can before buying new to offer the lowest price we can to BGSU Students.’ he said.

While iGoogle may offer the free use and downloads of many textbooks, it is a possibility that not all textbooks offered at the University Bookstore, SBX, or those at the University library will be available off of this Web site.’