Lamarbooktrade.com

At the end of July, I emailed every department at Lamar, explaining in brief the web site, and asking them if they would please email me their book lists. I was met with a warm response from the MATH, COSC, INEN, and ENGR (sorry if I forgot one.)

However, since then I've gotten nothing bus silence from the other departments. The way the site is set up right now, if I've got the ISBN numbers that go with a class, when you view that class, it will both display information on the books that are known to be for that class, along with any current listings for those books. However, with the database as incomplete as it is, this is currently not effective.

There are a number of downfalls to the system at the moment.

1. The ISBN field is currently very anal about the ISBN numbers you put there. It won't accept 13 digit numbers, one's with any dashes or spaces left in them, and the biggest issue is that sometimes Amazon can't find the ISBN number in their database. There is a fix in the works for that last part but it's not quite here yet.
2. I don't have nearly a complete booklist for the school. I've got 4 departments out of like 25-30. I need more book lists. I think that as the site grows and become more legitimate and better known, this will change on it's own. At the beginning of each semester, I'll mail each department and request book lists and over time, this will improve.
3. Editions, editions, editions. One of the more minor, but just as annoying issues is that ISBN numbers change every time a new edition is released. However, most of the time, old editions to books are just as viable as new editions.

In the meantime, I'm working on an easy way for people to tell me what books go with what classes. I'll try to get this done by the end of this week.

Looks like we're off to a sort of slow start. I have faith that this site can work but it's going to really need people to list their books. If you've got ANY old text books in your closet, especially for any entry level classes, please please please list them on the site. You don't even have to register.

If you don't believe me, I have looked through the log entries on the web site and people are coming here and searching for books and just not finding them. I'm willing to bet that anyone who listed a "Little Brown Handbook" or any of the Chemistry I, Physics I, Biology I books would likely have someone emailing them about purchasing them within a week.

Have a little faith and list your books. It only takes a minute and you're helping out a fellow student by doing so not to mention making a bit of cash yourself.

I've asked everyone, via the facebook group to go ahead and start listing books. Tell everyone about the site and get them to list their books too.

You don't even have to register.

I've improved the way classes and listings interact. Previously, under each class's textbooks was a link allowing you to search for that book. However, it was not easily visible if there actually were any listings for that book until you've clicked through those links. This has been improved now to actually list any books that are currently listed for that course, making it a lot easier to find books on a course by course basis.

Of course this will only work if people choose to use the site. I'm still making changes, but I'm planning for August 1st as the official launch date.

As you may be able to see, the site has undergone a complete overhaul. Been working a ton to make the site easier to use and so that each page is providing the information users are looking for in easy to find places.

At this point the site should no longer be undergoing any major changes so you can begin to list your textbooks.

I would like to point out a few features that I've implemented that you might be interested in.

• Listings will automatically display book covers, title and author information for whatever ISBN number is listed
• The Class pages have been revamped, removing a lot of un-needed information. Known books for each class are now listed below the class, with embedded ISBN search links. Example
• Classes can be viewed by Department. Ex: http://www.lamarbooktrade.com/class/ENGL will display all known English classes at Lamar.
• I've emailed every department at Lamar and requested a book list. Those that have replied have had their books listed for their classes.

Some issues that are still being worked out

• When posting a listing, the ISBN number field is very peticular. ISBN numbers are not accepted if they have any non-numeric characters. A fix for this is in the works
• ISBN 13 numbers are currently not supported.
• Posting without a registered account is currently working, but contacting people without a registered account is not.
• Possible field for uploading you're own picture of the book

But like I said above. The site is much more stable now and should be undergoing only minor tweaks and changes. I strongly encourage you to list your books so we can get the site rolling.