Any thoughts on studying from e-books ?
 

In start contrast to what almost all aspirants do, I'm thinking to study this time from e-books. I have found a good quality material on internet most of which was shared here by people.

But anyway, is there anyone here who relied on E-books or online sources for study? Any tips for effective use of E-books or online websites will be valuable for me..

[QUOTE=shaheersinn;1024636]In start contrast to what almost all aspirants do, I'm thinking to study this time from e-books. I have found a good quality material on internet most of which was shared here by people.

But anyway, is there anyone here who relied on E-books or online sources for study? Any tips for effective use of E-books or online websites will be valuable for me..[/QUOTE]
It depends upon each candidate. Some people can only study from hard copies while some are highly comfortable with soft copies. It is different for everyone.
I had relied on e-books and sources for few subjects of mine in CE-2017. So, let me share my experience.
You are right there is a lot of quality material available all over the internet. If your comfortable level with E-books is high you can go for it but according to my experience one should not totally rely on E-books. There are certain subjects in which examiner demands that we answer in Pakistan's context. A lot of data is available online but not much quality data is available for Pakistan for example in subject of Public Administration no relevant data was available online. Data available online is mostly about Western countries especially USA.
As I have said earlier that one should not rely on E-books alone, so it is the best approach to use both. Save as many recommended sources (suggested by FPSC and CSP's as you can) whether books or websites. Buy at least one core book for each subject in hard copy. That book should have almost all the syllabus covered. Get the best one if you could whether from Pakistani author or from foreigner. Rest choose which sources you are going to choose online and of course css forum is most helpful in this regard rest you can read dawn news papers, various articles etc online. Search relevant threads of all your subjects for book recommendation and other sources and you can download many helpful books, notes etc from there.

In case, you do not have any subject which is needed to be answered in Pakistan's context and your comfortable level with studying online is very high than go for it but keep one thing in mind it will waste a lot of your time as mostly the data present on cssforum is according to previous syllabus. Also it will take you a lot of time to search relevant data for each topic. Single book of foreign authors is not enough in my opinion as I have not seen a single book of foreign author which covers syllabus of entire subject and only books written by foreign authors are in e-book format.
By keeping hard copy of at least one local book you will have at least entire syllabus in compiled form. You can also get academy notes instead of books in hard form.

So, my advise is to use both sources if you can. Also, make short notes of all subjects which will come handy in exams.

Thanks Anum for your valuable input. I agree that I must buy one hard core book that covers majority of the syllabus. Will follow your suggestions !

Take care.

[QUOTE=shaheersinn;1024636]In start contrast to what almost all aspirants do, I'm thinking to study this time from e-books. I have found a good quality material on internet most of which was shared here by people.

But anyway, is there anyone here who relied on E-books or online sources for study? Any tips for effective use of E-books or online websites will be valuable for me..[/QUOTE]

Css-2016 onwards accomodate e-book reading. Pakistani publishers had failed twice now to prepare books which could encompass whole syllabus, leave whole! They could not compile even half of the subject syllabus. So that leaves the option of e-books, mostly which are fpsc recommeded of foreign authors. Local authors could be easily bought from major cities. I only read ebooks for 2016 because i had my tablet with me at office. Though my marks are not that good but ebook reading helps in making reading accessible most of the time. We all have access to gadgets so one could easily read from mobile, tablet or laptop.
2017 was about general understanding of a subject, again which requires vigorous readings and writing of subject matter. Only local published subject book which i find complete in a way is Hafiz Karimdad's Islamiat book because it had references of recommended books.

It all depends upon your comfort level. It is purely a personal choice. However, I have found the following facts & things very helpful.
I- It is tough to find a single recommended book which contains all the syllabus. Take the instance of General Science and Ability, all the topics included in the syllabus are fundamentally different from each other. For example, the subject of physical science and the subject of biological science. So, naturally, you have to consult at least two different books for these topics. Moreover, the paper of General Science & Ability consists of many fundamentally different topics. What do we do then? Do we need to consult a different book for each topic? That's what take me to my second point.
II- It is very laborious to follow more than one book on a single subject for the purpose of an exam. Why? Because we have years of practice of following a single book for a single subject. Our brains are wired to follow a single book, and that is the reason we buy substandard guides compiled by Pakistani publishers. What is the solution then? That takes me to my third point.
III- Do not buy cheap material available in the market rather compile your authentic course packs. For that,
a) You need to download all the available recommended books in pdf and then study the contents and reviews from Amazon.
b) You mark all those chapters in every book which are relevant to your syllabus. This process is very similar to making an outline for an essay.
c) Download pdf splitter and split the chapters according to the syllabus.
d) Download pdf merger and merge all the chapters.
Congratulations! You have compiled your own book.

Lastly, If you want to study from your PC then install Xodo, it is far better than Adobe reader. If you want to get this book printed, go to a well-known photocopier of your native city and get a print out of your book. For example, in Lahore, Canotech provides this service, and it is not much expensive.

[FONT="Times New Roman"][/FONT][QUOTE=SheikhAftab;1024883] If you want to get this book printed, go to a well-known photocopier of your native city and get a print out of your book. For example, in Lahore, Canotech provides this service, and it is not much expensive.[/QUOTE]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][B]You have produced some very good points brother.
But, I beg to differ with your assertion regarding that service being not expensive .
Kindly , clear up this confusion of mine . May be , you can share their printing prices or you can elaborate it in a better way by giving us rates for a 500 page book etc.

Regards .[/B][/COLOR]

[QUOTE=SheikhAftab;1024883]It all depends upon your comfort level. It is purely a personal choice. However, I have found the following facts & things very helpful.
I- It is tough to find a single recommended book which contains all the syllabus. Take the instance of General Science and Ability, all the topics included in the syllabus are fundamentally different from each other. For example, the subject of physical science and the subject of biological science. So, naturally, you have to consult at least two different books for these topics. Moreover, the paper of General Science & Ability consists of many fundamentally different topics. What do we do then? Do we need to consult a different book for each topic? That's what take me to my second point.
II- It is very laborious to follow more than one book on a single subject for the purpose of an exam. Why? Because we have years of practice of following a single book for a single subject. Our brains are wired to follow a single book, and that is the reason we buy substandard guides compiled by Pakistani publishers. What is the solution then? That takes me to my third point.
III- Do not buy cheap material available in the market rather compile your authentic course packs. For that,
a) You need to download all the available recommended books in pdf and then study the contents and reviews from Amazon.
b) You mark all those chapters in every book which are relevant to your syllabus. This process is very similar to making an outline for an essay.
c) Download pdf splitter and split the chapters according to the syllabus.
d) Download pdf merger and merge all the chapters.
Congratulations! You have compiled your own book.

Lastly, If you want to study from your PC then install Xodo, it is far better than Adobe reader. If you want to get this book printed, go to a well-known photocopier of your native city and get a print out of your book. For example, in Lahore, Canotech provides this service, and it is not much expensive.[/QUOTE]

Very good points friend. You are right in saying that the CSS exam now requires in-depth study followed by research on modern topics. This can be only done by consulting e-books. I'm going to follow this technique as I have been following it in my Masters. It does yields good results !

The only problem is reading from screen which puts strain on my eyes. For that, I will print out the selected chapters in a way you have suggested.

[QUOTE=Muhammad Ali Chaudhry;1024884][FONT="Times New Roman"][/FONT]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"][B]You have produced some very good points brother.
But, I beg to differ with your assertion regarding that service being not expensive .
Kindly , clear up this confusion of mine . May be , you can share their printing prices or you can elaborate it in a better way by giving us rates for a 500 page book etc.

Regards .[/B][/COLOR][/QUOTE]

The standard rate is one rupee for one page. That means you have to pay 500 rupees for a 500-page book and that includes the binding as well. That is not very expensive as compared the stuff available in the market.