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 > Douglas College Home > Student Services > Bookstore > Information for Faculty > Textbooks

Textbooks

For assistance with textbook concerns, please contact bakerj@douglascollege.ca or at #604-777-6258


Please note that the Course Book Lists are separated by New West & David Lam locations:

Spring / Summer 2012:

Winter 2012:  

Fall 2011:

Spring/Summer 2011:

Winter 2011:

Fall 2010:

The Course Materials Requisition Form
Each College discipline selects its own course books.
Email reminders with a link to the online course materials requisition form are sent to the Chairs, Coordinators and the Departmental Assistants well in advance of deadlines. The form should be filled out completely and submitted as quickly as possible to minimize delays. The form may be submitted online, mailed or faxed into the Bookstore.  An additional plus to placing orders early is students have the opportunity to resell their textbooks. Other students also will have the opportunity to buy a used book at a reduced price. Blank textbook Requisition forms are available in the Bookstore, from Departmental assistants or can be accessed by clicking here.

Orders are phoned and faxed into the Publishers checking price and stock availability. If the text has changed editions, or is out of stock with the Publisher, the Bookstore will e-mail and phone Faculty for further action.

One of the most important pieces of information Faculty can provide is the Required or Optional status of each text. It may be helpful to know what those status codes mean:

" Required ": Faculty announces in class the book is essential for success in the course. Students are responsible for assigned readings covering most, if not all of the text. The book will be discussed regularly in class and the material will be covered in exams and quizzes. The bookstore expects when a book is required and high inventory is ordered, that sell-through is 100% of course enrolment.

" Optional ": Faculty convey to students the title may be considered a resource and may be of interest to students who require additional assistance, but is not essential for success in the course. All optional textbooks or reference books (such as, dictionaries, grammar books, etc.) can be included on the one form.

Timelines


The lead time for obtaining textbooks may be months depending on the location of the supplier, availability of the book and the time of the year the order is placed. Orders placed well before classes begin are much less likely to encounter supply difficulties than those placed later.
In order to facilitate and assure availability of textbooks when needed, the deadlines for receipt of Course Materials Requisition Forms have been established as follows:

Summer Semester: Last week of January
Fall Semester: Beginning of May
Winter Semester: Beginning of September

Exact dates are established and advertised to all disciplines. Orders received later than the dates requested will be considered late orders and the books may not arrive in time for the start of classes.

Late Information
If there are course adoption changes (title or course cancellation, sections added, instructor change, etc.), contact the Bookstore immediately.

Textbook Pricing and Packaging
Textbooks are a specialized form of publishing. The print runs or number of copies produced, is generally small especially compared to books like best sellers and material can be expensive. The Bookstore's textbook mark up is not high. Unlike other retail items, there is no sliding scale of prices in educational material; the store pays the same price per copy regardless of ordering one or two hundred. Textbooks have a gross margin of only 25%

Used books are generally priced at 75% of the new price of the book.
Some Publishers bundle course materials, for example, combining the textbook along with a study guide or CD rom, into one package which sells for less than the separate components. The savings then can be passed onto the students.

Publishers Representatives
The Publishers' field representatives are faculties' main information source as to what books are available in specific disciplines. Faculty can contact the Bookstore for a list of Publishers' reps, addresses, phone numbers and their areas of specialization. This list can be picked up in person or downloaded here.   Major Publishers provide Faculty with complementary review copies of textbooks.

Desk Copies
Desk copies are obtained directly from the publisher.  The Bookstore is unable to order desk copies, please contact the publisher or publisher representative directly, or check the publisher website for desk copy request information.  Please note, if the desk copy arrives from the US, the College may be subject to customs clearing charges, HST and freight.  As these charges are the responsibility of the individual departments, prior discussion with the publisher representative is recommended.

The department may purchase a copy of the book from the Bookstore on account.  When the unmarked desk copy is received from the publisher it may then be returned to the Bookstore and the department will be credited.

Online/Printable Forms:

Course Materials Requisition Form

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