The Whitman College Bookstore is planning to implement a new, web-based system that will allow students to find out which books their courses require at the time of registration. The system is expected to be ready by the start of the fall 2011 semester, although this could be pushed forward to as early as the start of the spring 2011 semester.

As it is envisioned now, students who are registering would be able to click on a link by the courses they are interested in to go to a page where the required books for that course would be listed. These pages would list all publication information, including ISBNs, so students could learn exactly which edition of a book is required. The pages would also list the prices from Whitman’s bookstore.

The move comes as a result of a change in the Higher Education Opportunities Act made when the legislation went before Congress last year for a routine renewal. The change mandated that colleges and universities inform students at the time of registration of which books they would need for their courses. The mandate goes into effect on July 1, 2010.

Although Whitman may not comply with this law for a year or more after it goes into effect, Bookstore Director Douglas Carlsen is not concerned about the legal implications of the delay.

“The law has no penalties. The law has no encouragements,” he said. “It’s just a stated preference in law that we would like to see information available to students in advance of them being offered on the shelf, for as cheap a price as possible.”

Carlsen said that the bookstore hoped to be in compliance with the law as soon as possible. The delay, he said,  is due to the Bookstore’s desire to integrate fully with proposed technological changes anticipated in the coming year.

Carlsen also emphasized that implementing the new information system would be logistically challenging.

“Information on the titles comes from the faculty. And until the faculty tell us what they’re using, that information online will be blank,” said Carlsen. “So that’s the real difficulty: getting information in a timely enough manner from people who are busy doing other things that they are required to do.”

Difficulties aside, Carlsen said the bookstore was committed to providing as much information to students about their required books as early as possible. This could potentially be accomplished with a less refined, interim system, which would not make information available at registration, but would at least allow students to find out which books they need online a few weeks before the start of the semester.

Students reacted positively to news of the bookstore’s plans. Sophomore Billy Low was pleased with the upcoming change.

“Finally,” he said. “I want to see the books that I need, so I don’t have to buy them from them: from the bookstore.”

Lo said he thought that depending on the title, and whether you bought new or used, buying books online could be substantially cheaper.

These sorts of beliefs concern Carlsen.

“One of the difficulties we face is what I call the big box mentality,” he said. “You think, ‘oh, it’s in the big box stores,’ therefore it must be cheaper.”

He explained that though certain items were indeed less expensive when bought from large retailers, this was far from being the case with everything.

He added that he thinks that the bookstore can be competitive with online sales.

“We’ve had books on our shelves that were cheaper than you could find anywhere online,” he said. “There was particular title on Amazon that was selling for $95, and we were selling it for $87. So if students make an assumption, that’s when we get hurt.”

Carlsen said he thought the bookstore might suffer even if students made a fair comparison. Averaged however, he emphasized that the difference between buying online and buying from the bookstore wasn’t significant.

“It’s always been the case that if you bought all your books from us [versus if] you bought all your books online . . . that with shipping and handling and all that, the ease of returns . . . all of those things being equal, in terms of time, energy, money, it’s a pretty balanced choice. But we understand the pressures, and the realities of the marketplace, and the realities of people’s belief that it’s always cheaper elsewhere.”

Carlsen also stressed how all of the bookstore’s profits go back to the school, and the store was ultimately focused on the good of the students.

While many students will turn to the Internet, especially with advanced notice of the book list, others note that they look at a bigger picture.

“My rule of thumb is, I only buy [online] if it’s from the northwest,” said senior Autumn McCartan. “It’s not worth it to me, if I’m saving $3, to ship it from Maine.”

McCartan also said that she felt like she was missing something when she shopped online.

“Frankly, I like going to the bookstore,” she said. “You always see people that you know, especially right after summer break or winter break, [who] you haven’t seen in a while. The bookstore atmosphere, you wouldn’t get that [online].”