<p>Because with ISBN you can buy the book online instead of paying full price at the campus bookstore.</p>
<p>Simply more protection for intellectual property, aka protection of a racket.</p>
<p>However, why bother taking notes of the information when one can purchase the books and take advantage of the liberal return policies. And, that does sting a lot more. </p>
<p>University bookstores are dinosaurs and it's only a matter of time before they become extinct. All the shenanigans they play to protect their turf only hasten their demise.</p>
<p>Either the bookstore is independent of Harvard and wants to keep a monoply or is a part of the university that already charges plenty of tuition. I would find every opportunity to avoid purchases at that store. You don't need the ISBN to buy a book, the name, author type info works- this info should be available from the school if the bookstore is playing note taking games. Son looked online on the website of a bookstore handling textbooks for his school for info about a textbook the bookstore had run out of in the past and ordered it online elsewhere to have it in time.</p>
<p>Addenda- bookstores serving college students do not have to be dinosauers if they keep up with the times, many survive and will continue to because they learned how to stay competitive. BTW, in my day there were two freestanding bookstores near the UW-Madison campus- one folded, another alternative to the major store now exists. Hurray for private enterprise.</p>
<p>Yes, it will be great not having an actual bookstore convenient to the campus. And all those bookstores are reaping such high profits the owners are living in mansions. Better to send the money to some out of state sweatshop than to spend it locally in a place that actually employs many students and local people.</p>
<p>History and Mission
[quote]
** Students Started the Coop Back in 1882 and Students Still Come First with Us. The Harvard Coop was founded as a cooperative by a group of Harvard students. In the beginning, the Coop was simply a place to buy books, school supplies and coal or wood for those cold Cambridge winters. Over the years, the Coop has grown into one of America's largest college bookstores, as well as a full service store that's stocked with almost all the items and services you'll need on campus or off. Best of all, the annual membership fee is still just $1, as it was in 1882.</p>
<p>The Coop's Mission is to serve the Harvard and MIT communities as a cooperative by providing quality products and services. Our operations should be profitable, enabling us to share a portion of those profits with our members in the form of a rebate, and to support a capital budget which will ensure our viability.
[/quote]
**</p>
<p>Although some colleges- list the books needed online through the bookstore website so that you can either reserve the books needed or look elsewhere.</p>
<p>Reed actually had very good prices for a college bookstore ( possibly because they ran it themselves- I have bought used books from community college bookstores that were run by another company and what I paid, was more expensive than the sticker underneath ) :p</p>
<p>It also helps I think, that Powells( in Portland) one of the largest independent bookstores in the country- sells used books, many at very good prices in great shape
:D Powells</p>
<p>But for instance I am going back to school next week- @ Edmonds community college & their books are listed online- I ordered most of the books elsewhere- although there were a few packets & books I couldn't find that I had to order from the school bookstore.</p>
<p>The price of a book makes a huge difference to some students.</p>
<p>My daughter who was a science major, had expensive texts with cd-roms and color plates. Some of the books, she found online for less than half the price with my help, but for instance, even though we told her we would help her pay for books if she needed us to, she didnt tell us that she didn't have an organic chemistry book. ( she shared a book with a dorm mate & used the one in the library)</p>
<p>She failed spring final in Ochem and had to take a year off to retake it- not being able to afford her own copy may have made a difference I think.</p>
<p>We still spent a lot of money at the Reed bookstore- they also sell dorm supplies, snacks and school sweatshirts.
Rent movies and put together care packages ( which I did a lot- since it was easier than me remembering to send it)</p>
<p>Godknows I spend alot at the UW bookstore and I don't even go there!</p>
<p>Harvard profs are encouraged to post their syllabi online before classes start, and of course, they distribute their syllabi in class.</p>
<p>There is a bit of background to the Crimson story. The Undergradute Student Council has launched a new service, CrimsonReadings, that purports to sell books at 23% percent discount. It's been seeking the cooperation of profs by asking them to send their reading lists. Meanwhile, the COOP has been trying to sell used books at a 25% discount by purchasing back books from students at the end of term. So the COOP is probably not wanting competition from CrimsonReadings.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yes, it will be great not having an actual bookstore convenient to the campus. And all those bookstores are reaping such high profits the owners are living in mansions. Better to send the money to some out of state sweatshop than to spend it locally in a place that actually employs many students and local people.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>If that convenience has value, the bookstore ought to be able to get a fair price for it. It sounds like the students don't think they're getting value for the up charge.</p>
<p>My S's college bookstore is circumspect about putting textbook information online, but his school puts the information up for all classes on the current schedule. Despite that, he really did buy all his books on campus this year, because the prices weren't that different and it was more convenient.</p>
<p>What I wonder is why some enterprising school hasn't linked up with Abe or Amazon for this the way that they have with vendors at the campus food court.</p>
<p>To Barrons,</p>
<p>So you’re suggesting, a free market is fine as long as you can purchase inexpensive Mexican grapefruits at COSTCO (saw your Seattle ID :) or local grocery store, but the same principals should be suspended (read protectionism) for the COOP?</p>
<p>
[quote]
Better to send the money to some out of state sweatshop than to spend it locally in a place that actually employs many students and local people.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>BTW, I've come to know quite a few people in the mail-order/online business over the past few months. They don't sell books, but after talking to some friends working with a major online bookseller, there's no reason they couldn't. </p>
<p>FWIW, they operate most of their business out of a modern, very high tech facility in the rust belt that would never suggest "sweatshop" to anyone. And the many folks they employ at a living wage are entitled to jobs, too.</p>
<p>More importantly, nothing entitles school book stores to control public information to all them to continue to operate a virtual monopoly. Specialty retail is not a way of life that deserves protecting, and as much as I miss some small, charming bookstores I've known and loved over the years, I notice that neither I nor most other people were willing to pay extra for enough books to keep them open. Of course, I also miss full service gas stations.</p>
<p>It's a shame things change I admit, but that's life.</p>
<p>Doesn't every kid at Harvard now have a cell phone camera? Just click & pretend you're on the phone if anyone shows up! </p>
<p>(I actually like xiggi's idea - buy the book, order it on line and return it the next day!)</p>
<p>Chedva,
Thats what I was thinking.</p>
<p>So, Harvard doesn't supply their students with a booklist, including ISBNs, along with their schedule? I agree with the previous point...it really shouldn't be necessary to actually go to the book store or 'coop' to find ISBN numbers for their books. At UNC-CH, that info is available by merely clicking on a link 'show me my books'.</p>
<p>ldmom:</p>
<p>Why do you think Harvard doesn't? The profs probably do not provide the ISBN numbers. I've not seen a syllabus that does. But students can find the ISBN number by googling the authors and titles, either through Amazon.com or through HOLLIS (Harvard OnLine Library System). Most syllabi, as far as I know, are posted on course websites.</p>
<p>xiggi >>> However, why bother taking notes of the information when one can purchase the books and take advantage of the liberal return policies. And, that does sting a lot more. <<<<</p>
<p>That was my thought exactly. Buy the books (on credit card), leave the store, write down the numbers and bring them back (credit your account). This isn't rocket science - do these people think college kids are stupid and won't find a way "around" any stupid rule that they come up with. </p>
<p>Or, better yet, stand in line (like you are going to buy it), then look at the numbers - (no one is going to bother you when it looks like you're going to buy) then put the books back! </p>
<p>Sometimes just having title and author are not enough -- need ISBN so that you can be sure to have the right edition.</p>
<p>Usually, profs who want students to buy a particular edition will specify that edition. S took a course in which the prof specified the 6th edition. I do not believe that the ISBN was provided. S was able to order it online through Amazon.com. No problem.</p>
<p>You don't need the ISBN. You need to know the correct edition; if a prof wants that edition, s/he will specify it. S took a course for which the 6th edition of the textbook was specified. Not ISBN. S ordered the book through Amazon.com</p>
<p>For years, Harvard students have been ordering books online. Often, they purchased books through the COOP for the first week or so, ordered another copy online from a cheaper source then returned the book.
What is new is that for the last couple of years, the COOP has been trying to sell second-hand copies of books (emails went out last spring to students to sell their books back). This year, CrimsonReadings was launched by the Undergraduate Student Council in direct competition with the COOP. I can see that the COOP is not happy to have the USC come in to scope out information that will undermine the COOP (although I am not personally a fan of the COOP).</p>
<p>Marite....</p>
<p>I just ordered son's engineering book online.. Prof didn't specify edition or ISBN. Some profs are more meticulous, some aren't.</p>
<p>If he did not specify, he must not have cared. And you were still able to order the book online, right? So I don't see the problem.</p>
<p>Arghhh, I cannot either edit or delete the post.</p>
<p>I wanted to say that there are plenty of profs who still expect their students to head out to the campus bookstore, so see no need to specify either the ISBN or the edition. But students can ask for the information if they want to shop at used bookstores or order online. Harvard is in fact surrounded by bookstores that do quite a brisk business in used books (though I do not think math & science texts are sought). For the most part, it's easy to look up the ISBN. S last year bought the international edition of a physics text online at half the price of the American edition. But it turned out to be missing some appendix or some other chunk of materials.</p>