question for all you grad students out there

(or for those of you who were in grad school recently enough to remember, really, what it was like):

Packet or .pdfs?

I'm working on my grad seminar for the fall, and in addition to a small handful of required books, I have a bunch of articles that I'll need to make available. It's tempting to go the .pdf route to save folks the bulk and cost of the packet. I would make the readings available at the beginning of the semester, in week-by-week folders online. Or, there's the old-fashioned coursepack, made at the local Notes-n-quotes. Advantage: the readings are all there and ordered, and students don't have to spend time finding and printing them. It will probably cost 50 or 60 bucks.

I don't think a combination is the way to go--too confusing.

The .pdfs are slightly more of a pain for me, but once they're made, they're made, so long term, this would be good. I'm well familiar with the issues from the professor's standpoint, though, and so I'm really interested in hearing from those who will either shell out money or time.

Oh, and Happy 4th! There are more holiday-appropriate images over at no caption needed if you're doing some holiday cruising. But leave a comment before you go!

Comments

[jon]

pdfs work for me... I can usually mark them up/annotate them with my pdf reader, and the option to print is always there if I need it.

hope that helps!

[CJS]

No contest: pdf's. I've been using 'em for my seminar students for the past 4 years and, after the initial hassle, the convenience and improved environmental impact is way worth it.

[JHS]

Absolutely pdfs. I print them out anyway, but they're cheaper and easier to manage. Plus, if anyone is using Endnote, they can link the file to the database entry for very easy retrieval.

[k8]

In almost all cases pdfs. My one exception is for materials that contain a lot of graphics. If I do want to print them out (which I often do because I like to write all over the things I read), the items with a lot of graphics just kill my ink supply. Plus, copy packets tend to be better quality in those cases. But I suspect this isn't an issue. I'd go with the pdfs. Those who want to print them out can, and those who want to work off of a laptop can. Everyone is happy.

If you do use a course pack, I would recommend not having it bound. That is one of my greatest course pack frustrations because it makes it harder to bring just the materials for a specific day.

[Digital Celt]

PDFs work best for me as long as they are not image files (meaning they are the text files instead). Now that I've grown used to annotating and commenting via reading and storing them online, I don't want to go back to paper versions. Hope that helps!

[brett]

I always prefer hard copies, but I guess technically, you're just moving the production of that copy to the students (which they'll likely do on the cheap) or perhaps they enjoy screen reading. One thing to consider is the copyright issue, which I don't fully understand, but Georgia State is figuring out the hard way. (http://atlanta.bizjournals.com/atlanta/stories/2008/04/14/daily34.html).

[Scott Wible]

I received this comment on a student evaluation for an M.A.-level seminar I taught last year: "Printing out the readings was more of a pain than it was worth. I would have rather paid for a course packet."

[bethany]

I prefer a coursepack because I feel guilty for printing so many pdfs on department printer and I hate having to do it every week instead of pulling the next articles out of a binder. At UGA grad students are split on the issue, though.

[c...]

i prefer pdfs, especially for a course related to my work, because then i always have the articles/chapters with me (even in Ecuador) and, if they are properly digitalized, can even search for words or phrases ...

but i *always* have my laptop in class, so i don't have to print... and i know that in that sense i'm not in the majority among uiuc grads.

could you survey the class and go with the majority?

[Steven D. Krause]

Not a grad student, but....

At EMU, we have a course reserve system that allows faculty to upload PDFs for student download; I assume you have something like that at UI too. What's nice about it is it saves students a lot of money and its always accessible, and what's nice for me as an instructor is that I can update it on the fly--I find a new article I wish I had included at the beginning of the term. The bad thing about it is that I am not convinced that all of my students print things out, and that causes some various problems. But on the whole, I'd go with the PDFs.

[Vince]

PDFs. For one thing, I've had a hard time filing away the readings from course packets, which I noticed when I started to file all the readings. On the financial side, it's much cheaper. Buying books and course packets and paying the fees that our waivers don't cover can make August and September a financially difficult time. Also, course packets make the amount of reading for a class much more daunting from the start. Grad students will talk about the amount of reading in terms of size ("course packet was x amount of binders") and in terms of cost ("and it cost $$$$").

Given the ethical considerations of printing off departmental printers, I invested in a cheap laserjet printer that prints off faster than the dept ones. Plus, I've figured out how to print quickly and double-sided all the articles I read. Grad students are savvy, we'll figure it out. Or we'll get another a grad student to figure it out.

Oh, yeah. The environmental impact too. If any grad students complain about PDFs, just say "What, do you hate the environment?" A sneaky rhetorical tactic....

[chris]

Hard copies. Once I received the pdfs I'd have to print them out anyway. I have to be able to physically interact with a text in a way that you can't on a screen; I need a material text to mark on, take notes, draw stuff.

And you could get double-sided copies to help lessen the impact so we don't seem like such heathenous environment haters.

[TechnoKatt]

I say the PDF route is the best way to go. Students who wish to print out a hard copy, they have the ability to do so. But, I think if your students think long term, they will realize the value of having the PDF for future reference in addition to the copy for the class itself. Many of the graduate students I know, myself included, tend to find the nearest scanner and PDF course handouts as soon as we get them. So, if it is already available in a PDF, you're just making life that much easier.

Plus, you cannot argue that the PDF route is not cheaper. Graduate students love cheaper alternatives.

[K]

Have you though about using E-reserves and doing a pack? I have found it really isn't much work (on your part). That way people who want PDFs can get them off the library site. It saves you from scanning and loading and foldering. All you have to do is drop hard copies off at the reserve desk and they do the rest. The upside is that you can also do a course pack which I really prefer. I like to write on the pack and it is a lot cheaper than printing out PDFs for grad students who teach a class that also has a course pack because the copy store gives you like a 40% discount (most grad students can find someone who teaches a course pack class to buy the pack for them if they don't). I think it is the best of both worlds.

[Troy]

I've always liked PDFs, but I always end up printing them out. I, too, invested in a cheap laser printer to make things easier. No brilliant suggestions here, I just thought I'd cast my vote.

[Domophilia]

Definitely PDFs if the electronic articles are available on academic databases such as EBSCO Host or J-STOR. I usually download the articles in .pdf format(or .xps file, if not available), and save total pages by half by printing on both sides. It would be great if I can get a printer with a duplex unit.

[dhawhee]

Thanks everyone for the feedback! K has convinced me. I'll do the both for now, though the packets might well need to be print-on-demand. Trying both was also JM's suggestion. It seems we are in something of a transition. I myself prefer to read and notate stuff in .pdf, but I don't think I could teach exclusively from .pdf.

[Hannah B]

Ok I'm chiming in late but, since I've taught with pdfs and taken classes with them, I thought I should put in my two-sense. I prefer pdfs personally to coursepacks for both myself (I like to mark them up on the computer) and my students (allows me to add readings or subtract them easily). Going the library route is easier, however, they don't always do a great job with quality so be prepared to make a few pdfs last minute. But doing them myself was really time consuming and kind of a pain, so I think the library is a better choice.

I pretty much hate coursepacks. I always found myself taking them apart anyway throughout the course of the semester because I don't like lugging the whole thing around. And often they are so expensive. I much prefer buying books to buying coursepacks.