Frequently Asked Questions:  INSTRUCTORS

What is a digital textbook?
         A digital textbook is just like a regular textbook except that it is made available only on a CD or as a download.  Our digital textbooks are supplied as Adobe PDF files that have typical black text on a page-size white background.  Each page and chapter is numbered and each book's structure is displayed in a Table of Contents.  Each PDF file may be read with Adobe Reader, which is available for free and works on both Windows® and Macintosh® computers.
         There are several unique features of digital textbooks that make them extremely useful in today's digital world.  One is that they contain active links to carefully selected websites that instantly connect you to important resources.  Other features of digital textbooks include the ability to search the files individually or together for key words and phrases.  You may also highlight words and phrases and copy these into your notes.  In addition, you can also print any part or all of our PDF files.
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How do my students purchase your digital textbooks?
          Students purchase our digital textbooks by going to our website where they identify their instructor and institution, and promising to abide by US copyright laws prior to being transferred to PayPal where they use a credit card or their PayPal account or an "e-check" to complete their purchase.  If students select a digital copy download, that begins immediately, the zipped files being sent to their personal computer over the Internet and being saved by the student to some location on their computer's hard drive.  If students choose to purchase a CD, PayPal takes their money and notifies us of the need to send them their CD.  We post CDs daily and use first class mail as our delivery service.  Students who order the immediate download have the entire book within minutes and may begin reading immediately.  Students who want the CD have to wait up to three days for delivery, and, because of this, they are directed to return to our digitaltextbooks.biz website to download the first three chapters so they can begin reading for their first classes.  We gladly provide additional chapters in cases where the instructor starts with other chapters than the first three.
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What about my college bookstore?
          We market directly to instructors and students and therefore have no need to add another layer of retail to our business model.  We respect the ability of bookstores to deal with traditional paper-based textbooks and publishing companies, but find no place for them in our more efficient digital knowledge delivery model.
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Why do students have to give you information about their instructor and university?
          We view information about instructors and universities as our most important source of protection against illegal copying.  Knowing this information helps us keep track of sales.  We contact instructors a few weeks after the term begins and supply a list students in their class who have purchased the textbook they adopted.  In addition, the information students provide allows us to directly contact them individually should they have any problems with our digital textbooks.  We highly value our ability to directly interact with you and your students as customers and we treat all communications as confidential.  We never share, release, or sell names, emails, (or postal addresses in the case of a mailed CD).  In addition, we value having new instructors tell us about their experience using our books, and offer them our first-use review honorarium, which is paid upon receipt of your first–use review at the rate of $5 per student copy purchased (e.g., if 25 students purchase one of our books for your class, you will receive a check for $125 upon sending us your first use review).
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Do you provide scholarship copies for students who have an established financial need?
          If you have students who are financially needy (for example, students who are on Pell Grant scholarships or have some other basis for establishing their financial need) we will be happy to provide scholarship download copies of our digital textbooks at one-fourth of the regular price (for example, $5 instead of $20).  All we need is your notice of the student(s) name(s) and an email from the student.
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How is your reduced-price, scholarship copy policy implemented?
          The easiest way for us to offer scholarship copies is by refunding all but $5 of the purchase price of our books.  So, for example, if a student qualifies for a scholarship copy and pays $20 for the immediate download of one of our books, we will refund the student $15 as soon as we receive verification from you, the instructor, that the student qualifies.  In the future we may be able to implement this policy in different, more efficient way.  We will update this FAQ when that happens.
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Are your books returnable?
          Because our books are inexpensive and often purchased as downloads, the idea of returning the files or mailing back the CD makes little sense.  CDs are not "re-burnable" and, since we update our books annually, returned "old" CDs may not be re-sold.  Of course, we also hope that students highly value the content provided in our books and would chose to keep their purchase for future use.
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What is to stop students from making illegal copies of your digital books?
          Since our the digital files we distribute are not copy protected, students' personal integrity, dignity, and honor are all that stops them from making illegal copies of our books.  We sincerely believe that all college students, by virtue of having worked hard enough to get where they are, understand the effort that is involved in making any worthwhile intellectual product.  We further believe that no student wants to be thought of as a cheat or as a thief.  We provide $5 scholarship copies to those who are truly in need, so anyone can possess a paid-for personal copy of our books.  In addition, we urge purchasers to make a backup copy of their purchased book, for convenience and security reasons.  Making copies of our books for sale, or for the purpose of making purchases unnecessary by other students or individuals, is illegal.  If you are aware of someone who is illegally copying our books, we would welcome having any information about this illegal copying and we will follow up by contacting the individual(s) in question.  Legal action may follow should we not be able to resolve the illegal copying problem.
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How long do your digital textbooks last?
          Our digital textbooks should last forever since the digital technologies that we use are ubiquitous.  Unlike some publishing companies, who use a subscription method for sales and distribution, our textbooks do not "expire" or become unreadable at some future date.  Should you (or your students) lose access to one of our books due to no fault of your (their) own, just let us know and we will gladly replace the book.
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How quickly do students receive their purchases?
          Our website is open for business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.  Downloads are immediate upon payment.  CDs are mailed within 24 hours.  Emails and calls are answered between 8AM and 8PM EST.  Our goal is to be extremely efficient and consistently courteous.
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What happens if a student drops my class?
          If a student, for any reason, drops the class that required him or her to purchase one of our digital textbooks, we will gladly refund the full purchase price when he or she furnishes us proof of the drop and we verify this with you, the instructor.  As a part of this policy the student agrees to destroy his or her CD and/or permanently erase all digital PDF files.  Refunds are made back to the credit card originally used and happen within minutes of when we notify PayPal.
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What about viruses or files that become corrupted?
          We work exclusively on Apple Macintosh® computers and scan all of our products for viruses to ensure that no virus infects the digital textbooks we sell.  Although rare, computer files can become corrupted and this is one reason why we advise you to make a backup copy of your digital textbook.  Corruption of files is something that happens sometimes for seemingly inexplicable reasons, but also because users' computers are infected with a virus, or their hard drives are too full or badly fragmented.  Maintaining a healthy computer is an important defense against file corruption, and that along with making a back up is your best protection.  If, for some reason your copies of one of our digital textbooks become unusable, don't hesitate to contact us for a replacement.  Please note:  if the cause of the problem is ours the replacement will be free; if the cause if yours, the replacement fee will be $5.
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What is included in the Instructor's Resource Manual for Effective Elementary Social Studies?
          Effective Elementary Social Studies, has an Instructor's Resource Manual (IRM) that has sample syllabi, suggestions for teaching an elementary social studies course, ten potential course goals, reading objectives, and test items that are keyed to the student text.  In addition, each student textbook chapter has an IRM corollary that provides a plain language overview of the chapter's content, an author's commentary, and a review of professional controversies, research, instructional issues in order to give instructors a more nuanced and deep understanding of the topics covered in the student text.  Further help in teaching is provided for each chapter by suggested class activities, handouts, overheads, and PowerPoints that include focus questions, a summary of main ideas, and discussion questions.
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