Books - Essential & Unrivaled, or Expensive but Handy?

D_s

First year Engineer here.
Everyone I've talked to so far has varying opinions on course books.
Some Lecturers call certain books "Essential" and that we should definitely buy it, and others have literally said the words "Just Google something you don't know for a good explanation"

Talked to some classmates as well, and one or two have said "Yeah, I'm not buying any, just notes and library should do me", while others feel they need the books to get by.

So, anyone in higher years want to shed some light? Are course books merely a handy thing to have to look something up, but not necessary because notes/labs/tuts/Google/Library should sort you out for everything you need?

Or are they a must have - something that, come exam time, you'll wish you had to read through in an orderly fashion to get clear information explained better than any lecturer or notes?

XxMCRxBabyxX

It really depends on the module. Since lecturers presume that you have the book and will work off the fact whilst others will only use them as reference points or may not use them at all.

Give the modules a few weeks and see if the book is used/referred to much. If it is, if recommend buying it. It being called "essential" would probably point towards it being needed too.

aaabbbb

If you're doing maths you'll need that book

other than that I couldn't say

kksaints

Depends on the module. Some will give homeworks from the books and will not put them on Moodle which can make it a rush to get the book in the liberary but in most modules you wont need the books.