MBA Resources

Most American universities don't provide access to textbooks. That means MBA students will need to purchase textbooks from an online bookstore or the JMU Bookstore..

Every semester, the JMU Bookstore gets information from instructors about any textbooks that will be required in their courses. Students can search the JMU Bookstore website using their subject, course number, and section number to see whether a textbook has been assigned.

Alternatively, instructors should provide basic information for required textbooks, such as the title, edition and/or ISBN in their course syllabus.

Central Penn College Library (2023) explains these terms:

Edition: Different editions of a textbook will usually have the same title, at least one or more of the same authors, and similar overall content to the other editions.  The differences might include the number of pages, number of chapters, organization of the chapters, specific homework questions/problems, etc.  Later editions (with higher edition numbers and later copyright years) could reflect changes in research/technology, updated/newer case studies, [and] updated references (e.g. dial-up vs. Wifi, VHS vs. DVD).

ISBN: stands for International Standard Book Number.  An ISBN uniquely identifies each edition/version of a book.  All books with the same ISBN will have the same page numbers, chapter organization, homework problems/questions, etc.

Central Penn College Library advises students to "match both the ISBN and edition number (if applicable)" when purchasing textbooks (2023).

Attribution: Copied with permission from the Central Penn College Library's Textbook Information Guide.