Used book swap moves to the Web

In slightly more than the blink of an eye, ride boards, subletting and grade reports at the University have all migrated to the World Wide Web. Used textbook sales may not be far behind.

The Undergraduate Student Government is working with BookSwap, http://www.bookswap.com, a company that maintains a free on-line database of used books, to integrate a textbook exchange into USG's World Wide Web site, said Jeff Schlanger, USG communications director.

Instead, it provides a place for students to list books they want to sell, serving as a high-tech version of the Book Co-Op run each semester by USG and the Association of Residence Hall Students, Schlanger said.

The site is not intended to replace the Book Co-Op, but it will give students another option for saving money on books, Josh Smith, USG Senate president, said.

On-line book exchanges could give students better deals than textbook stores on campus and downtown, Schlanger said.

"When it comes to actually buying and selling books, the bookstore is really taking advantage of students," Schlanger said.

Although BookSwap is already fully functional for University students, few students have used it, Smith said.

Asking BookSwap to "list all books" at the University currently yields only one book on the site, and a message appears on one screen to say, "Book Buyers outnumber Book Sellers 19 to 1 at Pennsylvania State University. Now is a great time to sell your books!"

By the end of the semester, USG hopes to have the site fully customized for University students and integrated onto the current USG Web page, Schlanger said.

Even though the site is not located on a Penn State server, BookSwap automatically detects students who access it from a computer on the University's network and customizes the site accordingly, Wright said.

BookSwap allows students to list textbook editions, ISBN numbers and course numbers, although it contains no safeguards to prevent students from listing books that are no longer used, Smith said.

Tom Bauer, manager of the Penn State Bookstore, said the risk of buying an obsolete edition of a textbook is a significant downfall of book exchanges.

In the future, BookSwap might have the capability to list what books are required for what courses, Smith said.

The Penn State Bookstore currently compiles the textbook list from instructors and then forwards that information to the Student Book Store, 300 E. College Ave., and the University Book Centre, 206 E. College Ave., Bauer said.

Putting that information on the Internet would require continual upkeep to change the list when professors add books or make changes, Bauer added.