Uni Books

[AsianNerd]

Would laptops be helpful during lectures or classes etc?

[90+FTW]

Would laptops be helpful during lectures or classes etc?

I'd say so, I'll be bringing mine.

[b^3]

Would laptops be helpful during lectures or classes etc?

I think this will depend a lot on the degree tbh (and well general preferences). I know some people in the more rote learning orientated sciences that used them during lectures to type up notes and such. For me in engineering or maths/physics, it's not as helpful as engineering/maths notes seem to end up as a mess of diagrams, something that you can't do quickly enough in a laptop during lectures.

For tutes however, it's a different story. For engineering/maths they do come in handy, if you need to run a quick simulation using matlab/mathematica or do something in solidworks. or have the textbook on your laptop so you don't have to cart it around for questions.

So I think it would really depend on the degree and subject. I'm not in biomed, but those I know who are seem to use them a bit for lectures.

*  bcub3d looks around at the biomed AN kids to contribute

[engineeringatmelb]

Is it possible to get electronic forms of most books?

[Limista]

You can get them elsewhere but they are pretty cheap at the bookstore.  I think the coat is like $10.

I have my labcoat from school (it's dark blue). Can I just use that?

[hobbitle]

I have my labcoat from school (it's dark blue). Can I just use that?

Yep. You don't have to buy one at all if you're willing to wear the communal ones, you just have to give them your student card for the duration of the prac.

[Ballerina]

Is it possible to get electronic forms of most books?

It depends. For all 3 of my psych classes thus far, I've been able to torrent the textbook PDFs. However, I couldn't locate the PDFs for chem and bio classes. Upon purchasing the textbooks it was clear they wouldn't be torrent-able because the textbooks aren't accompanied by a CD digital copy.

I Google the titles and hope something turns up, and there are master posts like below floating around.

http://pinkieblues.tumblr.com/post/45268012761/free-textbooks-master-post

Disclaimer: I have never torrented in my life and the content of this post is purely hypothetical in the interests of intellectual curiosity. Any discussion of torrents or webpages regarding ebooks is to assist in instruction of which webpages to avoid, and facilitate awareness so that persons can immediately cease and desist aforementioned online activities upon recognizing said activities.

[Limista]

Yep. You don't have to buy one at all if you're willing to wear the communal ones, you just have to give them your student card for the duration of the prac.

In your experience, do people usually buy them and bring them, or do most people wear the communal ones?

Also, is it necessary to buy the safety glasses, or are these supplied in the same way as the labcoats are?

[Ballerina]

Students generally buy their own lab coats, and purchasing your own safety glasses is strongly advisable as it would be no fun to show up to borrow  a pair, only to find everyone else did the same and there are none left.

If you wear glasses, please buy the large safety glasses. I spend a semester and a half with safety glasses  balanced on top of my reading glasses and affixed with bobby pins/hair ties/bubble gum/safety pins and they eventually fell into a beaker of ethanol.

[scribble]

^zumdahl wasn't hard to find if you were happy with the previous edition;;
biology an australian focus on the otherhand was downright impossible to find. :<

Q___Q safety goggles are my hugest woe; they never stay on my face. being asian, my nose doesn't exist so they slip off as soon as i look down. clearly i'm not genetically cut out for science. </3

[Ballerina]

You would never try to locate Zumdahl though, because we are upstanding citizens who don't torrent!

Hahaha same. And if students are purchasing their first lab coats, try them on thoroughly in store first. I returned my lab coat twice* because their size 'petite' is equivalent to size 18. Extra petite is uncomfortably billowy and large, and the store didn't accommodate below that. Thank you to manufacturers for providing as much flammable material attached to my person as possible in a laboratory.

*The first time was because I accidentally purchased a dental hygienist coat, that wasn't their fault um 

[scribble]

LOL also, get in early if you want "small" labcoats. they ran out super quickly last year. also also, coop gave out free $20 vouchers during o week last year.
#excitedtobuydiseaseplushtoys

[Limista]

LOL also, get in early if you want "small" labcoats. they ran out super quickly last year. also also, coop gave out free $20 vouchers during o week last year.
#excitedtobuydiseaseplushtoys

so say I head in on Monday...is that early enough?

[scribble]

it'd actually be a pretty good idea, you'll be cutting the 1 hour queues.

[Ballerina]

Last year we tried to see how many people would fit into a size 'small' lab coat. Five. Five fully grown adults.