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Barnes & Noble at RIT is required by law to make changes to its website to display International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN) by July 1st—50 days from now.

In August of 2008, the “Higher Education Opportunity Act” (HEOA) [PDF] was passed and became public law. Section 133 of the act requires institutions to provide specific information about textbooks for its courses—in online or printed form.

The law was passed back in August of 2008, and congress hopes colleges will make the changes before then, but it appears Barnes & Noble will wait until the last minute.

With the large number of textbooks and different editions, Barnes & Noble’s lack of properly displaying full book titles and author names makes it a bit harder for students to find the book through alternative sellers.

BookMaid contacted Barnes & Noble over a year ago, and they had no intention to publish ISBNs until they were “legally obligated to.” Since then, it was learned that Barnes & Noble is required to. Last August, Barnes & Noble’s manager said the changes were under way.

As we all know, RIT does not display International Standard Book Numbers (ISBN) on the Barnes & Noble website (the only way to find textbooks for classes). Since many books have different editions, and similar titles, not knowing the ISBN makes it more difficult to find textbooks elsewhere. After inquiring and receiving a unfulfilled answer from RIT’s Barnes & Noble’s Manager:

“It is Barnes and Noble College Booksellers policy not to post ISBNs on our websites unless we are contractually or legally obligated to.”

Well, it turns out that RIT is actually legally obligated to.

As of August 14, 2008, a textbook provision of the Higher Education Opportunity Act (pdf) states that all institutions of higher learning are required to display ISBN and retail price for required textbooks.

This provision does not take effect until July 1, 2010, however Congress has stated that they hope universities will begin to implement these changes before the deadline to end what they feel are “abuses in the process.”

RIT has still not yet implemented these changes, however, the manager of the RIT bookstore states that these changes are underway, but they will not be completed until sometime next year. (Right before the deadline - go RIT!)

Thanks to Matt Danna, RIT’s Student Government President for helping this along.

As all of us know, RIT’s Barnes & Noble store does not publish ISBN numbers. This way, it makes it harder for RIT students to find books from other sources. Titles and authors listed on the site are often abbreviated, so searching on other sites may provide inaccurate results.

Barnes & Noble’s Response

BookMaid emailed RIT Barnes & Noble’s Manager, Peter Briggs, and they explained their rationale:

“It is Barnes and Noble College Booksellers policy not to post ISBNs on our websites unless we are contractually or legally obligated to.”

He stated that there were consistency problems with ISBN numbers, and that they felt that the title, author, and edition were enough information.

If you disagree, contact Peter at pwbbkt@rit.edu.

He also stated that students may call to ask for ISBN numbers. (Phone: 585-475-2501 or email form). BookMaid encourages students to call and ask for ISBN numbers.

How to find your RIT required textbook list

1. Login to Student Information System (SIS)
2. Choose Academic Information and then Class Schedule
3. Select the term and click Submit
4. Click By My Books Now
5. Copy the titles of your book and search for the textbooks on BookMaid

BookMaid is looking into automating the process to search for your required books easier.