For which school subjects would it be ok to use an older edition of a textbook?


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artfuldodger1300 asked:


I’m buying books for my college courses and noticed that the previous editions of the anthropology books are much cheaper than the most current ones. I know that there are some fields that are constantly changing, and I don’t want a textbook that’s missing current information that I’ll need. Is anthropology one of those fields, or would it be worth the savings to buy the older books?

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2 Responses to “For which school subjects would it be ok to use an older edition of a textbook?”

  1. lovelywhitely Says:
    May 7th, 2010 at 2:43 am

    Well, you should go ask your professors. He/she could know if there is any differences in the newer textbook comparing it to a previous edition. lovelywhitely

  2. Ollie Says:
    May 8th, 2010 at 6:02 pm

    Well, it’s a profit-generating thing for the textbook companies.

    If students buy used books, they aren’t buying new ones. Most fields don’t change fast enough that a two-year-old book is hopelessly out of date. At least, the introductory course material is relatively stable. You probably will be fine using a previous edition, especially if you hit the library once in a while and grab the current edition from the reserve desk to make sure you’re not missing anything important.

    But one of the tricks the publishers use is to change the page numbering to make it tricky to keep up with assignments that use page numbers unless you buy the latest. So check with your teacher. (She’s very likely sympathetic to your desire to save money, by the way.) Ollie

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