Scan/copy law books instead of lugging them to class?

[Brooklaw]

Hey ppl. I guess that this would be the best place to ask this question. I have the fabulous idea to copy/scan my casebooks/textbooks instead of lugging all of these huge things to class. I have enough money to buy a very good all in one printer/scanner/copier, so that won't be a problem.
I plan to use 8x14 paper to try and cut down on waste. I don't mind buying printer ink, toner, etc.

I was just wondering if anyone has tried this already and what were the results. Was it too much work to do, or was it a good way to cut down on your back pain?

[Frappe]

Are you really going to have all your classes on the same day that you'd need to lug all the books?  Most schools have lockers you can keep your books or get a rolling back pack.  I have no experience with this, but I would imagine that scanning the reading for each class would take up too much time that you could be doing other things. However, I have heard of people dividing up their casebooks into sections and then re-binding them at Kinkos.  I'd wait until classes started to do something like that though.

[Brooklaw]

I haven't read anything on my schools website about lockers, and we share a building with the business schoool, so i'm not sure there is any chance of having that amenity. I know allmy classes won't be on the same day, but i've taken two constitutional law courses in undergrad, which used the actual Sullivan/Gunther Con Law text, and it is pretty big. Two of these on any day plus my laptop is way too much.  I refuse to have a dorky rolling backpack. No offense to anyone with one already, but that is something i will never have.

I really don't think it will take that much time. I could probably do a couple hundred pages in 20 minutes or so. The division of the casebook is a good idea though. i wonder how much that will cost. I'll look into that. I'd rather do it before school starts, so i don't have to worry about it.

Thanks for the opinion and the suggestion.

[kristin1644]

I say carry the books--it'll toughen you up!     Seriously though, you'll probably have access to a locker (I knew nothing of this until I came to school--no info on it from the school before).  Also, you won't have all classes on all days, so you won't have to take every book every day.  I think it'd just be a lot of trouble to scan and print everything...

[rapunzel]

When I did my master's degree we had hundreds of pages of reading a week from materials which were on reserve from the library (many different articles from different books, instead of one book for the course).  So I spent many hours over the course of each semester making copies in the library.  This was extremely tedious.  Law school has me even more pressed for time- so I'd say you are going to find this to be a pain in the ass.  I think you would end up scanning a few hours a week.
One girl in our class does use a razor blade to cut her test books into smaller segments.  This seems to work for her.  However, it is always funny when the prof starts to reference something and she doesn't have that particular chunk of her book that day.  She's very anal and everyone can tell she gets frantic.

I bet you have lockers.  I almost never take a text book home.

[zemog]

I scanned and sometimes xerox copied for weeks ahead so I didn't have to carry my books.

[NoelleMyBelle]

I leave mine in my locker and read while I'm at school.  Copying the book would be a waste of money--the book was expensive enough the first time!

[giraffe205]

There's a good chance that you'll want to be spending your time sleeping or studying rather than sitting at a copier. I've had classmates take their large books to Kinkos and they will take off the spine and rebind them into their separate chapters or however else you'd like. That's the cheapest and most efficient way.

[danlauer]

Most of my classmates bring two bags full of books to class every day. I can't help laughing when I see them -- I never bring the casebook in class! And the idea of scanning/copying books is really funny! LOL

[rezipsa]

Seems like a good idea.  However, it would take too much time to scan everything.