Malaysia Veterinary Forum (Archive)

jonathan89 · Joined: 13 Aug 2007 Posts: 2

so yea i got into a vet school but now my problem is that the the books are so expensive....
was thinking maybe photocopyin from library but in this country the photocopy so expensive (like 50 cents per page) cos of copyright and that.

anyone know places where i can buy cheap books (my friend suggested amazon) ? how did u guys get urs?

Dr HanMRCVS · Joined: 07 Jun 2006 Posts: 557 Location: Johor Bahru

yup amazon is a good site, i do get some from superbookdeals.com as well. but their price is about the same, equally expensive.

varanus · Joined: 12 Feb 2006 Posts: 469

Hello. Yes. Vet book very expensive. Much more than those of medical book. The best option you have, stay in the library and read. You guys are so lucky to have a library that is so well equipped and don't have to enter the main library. Don't complain the books are taken by other course mate as there are also book in the reference area and lots of journal too. The best thing is it is FOC.

Regarding photcopy, it is actually illegal. But everybody does it. Nobody is doing 50 sen per page. We got like 4-5 sen per page even with 80g paper. But be very careful, if the officer came to check, the book will be confiscated and you got to pay. So the trick is ask somebody to borrow, just joking.

If you have loan or scholarship, it is for you to buy books. Not new handphone, clothes, ciggy, movie...Save money and buy new books, it is worth it because you can use for a long time.

The other thing you can do is look for 2nd book. When the senior graduate, there will be a lot of books, original or pirated, up for sale. We dumped all our books in faculty the next hour comprehensive finished. :twisted:

Dr. TanDY · Posted: Mon Aug 13, 2007 9:53 pm Post subject:

If your library has NetLibrary (netlibrary.com) access then you can also read ebook. Just download the pages that you need. No need to pay for anything. Pretty cool in the digital age.

Dr Dunker · Joined: 02 Jun 2006 Posts: 463 Location: Puchong,Selangor

Yep, i think we dumped a truck load of books belonging to me and my housemates in the students room. The best part is that most of them were photocopied anyway. I dont think ppl do photocopy at a rate of 50 cent a page in serdang. That is so insane. Go ask round some more and you can get much lower price.

Dr csh · Joined: 21 Jan 2006 Posts: 425

Books are VERY expensive. You cannot afford to buy them on a whim so figure out which books you will NEED and only buy those. If you insist on buying, my only advice is to go bargain hunting mainly buying used books from seniors. If you don't have the books yourself, you will just need to plan better.... If you have exams or assignments, you need to start early so you have a good chance of using library books. They do have a pretty good collection actually. Another thing you could do is share with housemates and make scheduled for use. If you have seniors who are willing to lend you books that is another option.

I agree that 50 cents is WAY too much and I'm sure you can find better deals if you looked. Now, I am not encouraging you to break the law by any means but I really am sure you will be able to find better deals than that.

Personally, notes were my single most useful source of study material when I was a student. Most of the notes were not made by myself and I had to borrow or copy some of my more industrial coursemates' note. I made better notes as the years went on but still not as good as my coursemates. Currently, my biggest resource is online. I read most of my journals online and don't even print them out anymore. It is just a waste of paper.

Good luck in vet school. those were the best years of my life.

Choy · Joined: 10 Sep 2006 Posts: 27 Location: Athens, Georgia

Just a advice.....when buying used textbooks from your senior, do check the edition of that book. The vet library is currently very efficient in getting new books (we already have the latest edition of fossum's surgery textbook, thrall radiology, the latest ettinger, veterinary medicine by blood and gang). Not that the new editions would be much better than the old one, but just check out the new one first. Who knows, there may be new information or latest updates in it. So just be wary of this.

Dr csh · Joined: 21 Jan 2006 Posts: 425

Well, I think an older edition is not a bad idea actually. When I was in vet school, I bought the original two volume Ettinger book (the Red cover version) cheap because there was a newer version available. As a student, I was trying to learn the basics so a 5-7 year old book is fine. The new edition would have cost me over a thousand ringgit but I bought the other book for less than half price! If you want to learn about a specific disease in more detail because you have a case or doing an assignment, read the textbook (doesn't really matter if it is an older edition) then get the newest information from journal articles. It takes years before information available in journals get into textbooks anyway so even the latest textbook's new information is probably a few years old.

Unless you are doing research, you don't NEED the very latest cutting edge knowledge, technology or procedure.... It would be nice to know but as I said before, you need the basics first and that you can get from textbooks... even old ones (within reason of course).

Dr kawitha devi · Joined: 29 Jun 2007 Posts: 7 Location: malacca

yeah ,ettinger is one of the book that all shouid get. Don't forget your lectures note as well and online resources too. Photostating for 50 cents per paper is very ,very, expensive!!!!

lcs · Joined: 05 Jul 2006 Posts: 65

During the school day, we always photocopy a lot of books , and a lot of them never or seldom been flip over. That’s the scenario among of my coursemate (including me as well). :D Haaa.. If you mamge photocopy, just go ahead, as a student, just a simple reason, we are not rich enough to pay for original book. As a student, you also needn’t to own all the original copies, unless you are very very rich until the 50 ringgit notes outflow from your pocket. :lol:

jonathan89 · Joined: 13 Aug 2007 Posts: 2

ya 50 cents is a lot but i guess that helps deter ppl just photocopyin the whole book.

right now im borowing from library but its almost always on loan to someone else ..(im not the only one!). i'll probably just get the compulsory books off amazon or smthn.

tried looking for second hand ones but the're kinda rare. apparently when the senior student bought their books they only buy the important ones (like a vet dictionary/manual) which they hold on to year after year. i imagine the books are pretty useful after they graduate too (i met some practising vets still hold on to their textbooks!!!)

S.A.Tan · Joined: 30 Oct 2006 Posts: 19

so anyone know that how to get ebook? is our Library a NetLibrary Member Library ??