The Next Big Thing: Book Finder

[PandaMoOo]

In the never ending determination to become "The Ultimate Guide to Classes" I have determined the next big feature that if all goes according to plan will be implented for public open beta use come Summer 2005. This next feature is titled: Book Finder.

After spending about $300 on books this quarter, and looking at all my friends do the same I thought there had to be a more reasonable way of buying books. It is possible to order books on amazon.com after finding the ISBN numbers, and it is possible to buy through book exchanges on campus but all of those are a lot of work and given our busy student lifestyles they're not always reasonable to do.

What I envision is being able to search for schedules and being presented with the list prices/used prices (on amazon.com) for the books you need for the classes you are searching for. This would make buying books for your classes much easier, it would hopefully give enough time for the books to arrive before classes begin as well. One great side effect of this would being able to sell your book back on amazon.com to other people for nearly the same price you bought it for! (Minus shipping) Bringing the cost of books to approx. $30 a quarter for the average student.

The One and Only Hurdle:
-Getting a list that link CRNs - to - ISBNs.

If the school does not provide the information to me directly, I do have alternative methods but they will provide a less definitive list then otherwise available. And nobody wants to buy the wrong book for a class... so accuracy is key.

This is where I need help! I know the information is out there, other bookstores off campus somehow get it, how can I get it? Who do I ask? Is it available digitally? If you work at a bookstore that is on or off campus please post or PM me anything you may know that may help get the ISBN list!

26000+ students could definately benefit from this feature! This is going to be the next big thing.

[Admin]

Would you order your textbooks online through gradecalpoly.com if it were convenient?

Absolutely! If you implement the book finder with the schedule finder, it is a win-win situation. Very convenient for the end-users (the students) and also benefit the administrators of GradeCalPoly.com.

Now to find those that can assist on your project.

[PandaMoOo]

I already contacted the bookstore and was saddened by their reply. Although they kept saying they're a non-profit organization that is for the students but they seemed unwilling to assist me in helping students. I get a real fishy smell from the way things were worded. Who doesn't like conspiracys?

Anyhow. Bookstore seems to hold onto the information pretty tightly, I've already began working on the system to extract the needed information to hopefully link the class to the ISBN. Maybe be implemented in a week or two if I continue at the pace I'm going right now. Book prices will be available where the google ads are when searching for schedules I've decided.

The thing that peeves me most about the foundation is how much they claim to be dedicated to fair prices for the students, yet still always claim to be business competitive with a profit every year. To me, it seems like quite a contradiction. So one of the features on the site will compare the bookstore list price, to the amazon list price, and we'll see exactly how competitive they are.

Party on.

[LilWahine]

A few years back I worked in a department office for over a year. Every quarter a professor, I believe Mrs. Adahait in Accounting came into our dept office (not accounting) and talked with the department secretary. Then the department secretary gave her a pink copy of the book requests each professor turned in to the bookstore. When I asked my department secretary about this, she said that this lady worked for or with UBE (University Book Exchange) and that is how they got the ISBN numbers & names of the books each professor was going to use each quarter.

After that long statement... try going to see a department secretary and win her over and see where that gets ya. There's got a be a way or maybe it's public information since UBE does it.... I figured that the Bookstore doesn't give out any info since that would just be one more way of losing money.

I personally buy & sell my textbooks on Half.com (by the makers of Ebay). It's easy to use. You set the price of the book and people buy it and the buyer pays for Media Mail delivery. I think Half.com's cut is about 8-10% of the sale yet don't quote me on that.

Anyway. Hopefully that helps you and good luck!

[PandaMoOo]

Thanks a lot for the info LilWahine, unfortunately even if I wanted to the work required to ask all departments for the book lists, and entering the information by hand is not quite worth the effort. It's interesting that the department level gives it to the book stores however.

I am pleased to announce that development of this feature is way ahead of schedule, I used the holiday on friday to grind out a functioning version of the entire new system. Along with the new book finder a new feature or two, and text clarifications are coming.

I'm currently shooting for final publish by feburary 27th. I may however take up to a week longer if I hit unforeseen issues in making the amazon.com book title->ISBN more accurate.

On a side note, I'm currently in debate with myself as to whether or not I also list half.com prices next to the amazon.com prices. I won't provide the details for the internal debate, but if everyone else could let me know...

Would you prefer to buy from?
A) Either amazon.com/half.com whichever is cheapest.
B) Amazon.com Preferred, they're easiest/cheaper/whatever
C) Half.com Preffered, they're easiest/cheaper/whatever

Meh... and give whatever other comments you have.

Any other small features/tweeks any one wants for the coming publish? (I'm already adding the ability to "force lecture & labs both being taken" on the schedule finder.)

[PandaMoOo]

This feature has been published as of Feburary 25th and is now available on gradecalpoly.com. You can easily see the books for your schedules by clicking the "Find Books" link on the top of the schedule. Or you can search by class/CRN on the "Find books" page.

I'm pretty pleased with the success and accuracy of this feature, I hope it proves as useless as it potentially can be.

The Winter 2005 book list is currently the only one available, I will have the Spring 2005 list available March 15th or so. Hopefully in the future I can get the book list earlier then 2 weeks before the quarter starts. Shoot me back some feedback if anyone has any to give.

Time to start working on the next big thing... too bad I'm almost out of ideas.

[zoedragon]

An idea I had that never came to fruition was a way for professors to participate. Something like teacher home pages where they can post a summary about their teaching style, testing style, or whatever they want to post about their classes or themselves.

I also thought about how Ebay feedback works. They enable you to post replies, whether they be rebuttals in defense or just plain comments, regarding each piece of feedback you receive. As a user I've found it invaluable to post an explanation for the random negative feedback I get. As a professor I can imagine how frustrating it might be to have all these comments written about you and no way to say anything on your own behalf.

[PandaMoOo]

Thank ya Zoe. What a fantastic idea, I'll implement that next. Should be relatively easy. Hardest part is to verify automatically/not automatically that the instructor is indeed the right instructor. That idea is really nice because GradeCalPoly.com is often so much of a downer, teacher input would make it more positive. Probably be ready before Summer 2005 starts.

The next professor related idea I had was to tabulate all the grades, and find the "best graded" for the 4 different categories + one more for best overall and give them an award "from the students." I think it'd be real nice for the good teachers to get some recognition for the work they have done. I already did the programming for that, just need to wait... probably do it once a year, in Fall Quarter. Of course I'll put their picture on the website (if they let me) so they get even more recognition.

[Admin]

I love the NEW book finder!
No need to go through the bookstore website to search for the required textbook. Will definitely use this feature for the upcoming quarters and will be recommending it to my classmates. Props for you PandaMoOo.

[Talon]

I just accessed GradeCalPoly.com, and I was impressed. You did an outstanding job PandaMoOo. By the way, happy birthday!

[Mike]

I just noticed on the bottom. Happy birthday dude.

[PandaMoOo]

Thank you for the happy birthdays, by far this has been the best birthday since I was 10 or so... so many people wishing me a good birthday it must have actually come true! Too bad its over... 364 more days till the next one!

[PandaMoOo]

The Spring 2005 Book List is available.

You may find your books online now on gradecalpoly.com as well by going to www.gradecalpoly.com/books.asp

[Tarak Chunsa]

Dude, now this is a huge upgrade from the good bad tenured website. Keep up the great work.