A La Carte Studies A Growing Trend (NAPSA)—Increasingly, today’s students—used to the conveniences offered by the Internet and cell phones—want access to their studies when it fits their schedule, in a format that meets their needs. Students are becoming more demanding and selective, and publishers are responding by making sure these consumers can get exactly what they want, even when it comes to textbooks. For example, at one online bookstore, students can now purchase their course materials “Aa la carte.” They can go online, select the content that they need, in the format they prefer, for the price they want. By going to the site, called iChapters.com, students can purchase whole e-books, texts by the chapter and audio books or buy their traditional texts at a discount. Digital supplements and other educationaltools are also available. The innovative model was created to provide students who purchase full e-books and chapters to have access to the materials online for 180 days. Further, students that use a single textbook for consecutive courses can be granted extended access to texts for 12 or 18 months for books that are used in multiple-term courses. Students can easily access their course materials from any location via the Internet. Thesite offers students choices at varying price points depending on the format they select for their course materials, ranging from ebooks to traditional print textbooks and audio books. Students can purchase these course materials at a steep discount. By shopping online, students can purchase whole e-books,texts by the chapter and audio books or buy their traditional textbooks at a discount. The e-books available on the site are also available at a discount of up to 50 percent, and single chapters start at $1.99. The single chapter option allows students to purchase only the material that they will actually need, and some students use the option as a pay-as-you-go approach when they are strapped for cash. Additionally, students who prefer to study from traditional print textbooks can receive 15 percent discount on average when purchasing their books through the Web site. Students can choose from 10,000 textbook titles and even access course material from on- campus bookstores at more than 4,000 colleges and universities. To learn more, visit the Web site at ichapters.com.
