What is Textbook?

The Textbook system was developed so that Ohio University is compliant with the Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA). The HEOA (H.R. 4137 Sec. 133) (PDF, 50KB) requires universities that receive federal funding to provide to students the textbooks and materials with approximate prices before the students register for classes.

Do I have to do this every quarter?

Each term every class section will at minimum be required to be verified that the textbook and material information assigned are appropriate for that term.

Do all instructors have access to do this?

All faculty members/instructors have access to view the information submitted for his/her class sections. Each department/school has the option of permitting faculty and instructors to update textbooks and materials for class sections they are teaching. Please contact your department chair/school director to find out if you may update your textbooks and materials online or if you should provide the information to a department staff person.

How does Textbook interact with the bookstores?

The information submitted to the online Textbook system will automatically be provided to the four local bookstores in Athens (College Bookstore, Follett's, Little Professor, and Specialty Books), as well as to bookstores at the regional campuses. An initial file will be provided, and then periodic updates will automatically be sent to the bookstores.

What if there are no books, materials, or notes for a class?

If there are no books, materials, or notes entered for a class section then the Course Offerings system will automatically display "To Be Determined." If there are no textbooks or materials required for a class section please enter a note (i.e., No textbook or materials required for purchase) so that "To Be Determined" will not be displayed in the Course Offerings.

When are entries due in the Textbook application?

Ideally, all textbooks and materials are entered before the start of priority registration for the term (Fall - May 1; Winter - October 1; Spring - February 1; Summer - April 1). We understand that this might not be possible for all classes. Please work with your department chair/school director/regional campus dean to follow deadlines provided by the department/school/regional campus.

If the bookstores have questions, whom do they contact?

The bookstores will continue to contact the instructor or the departmental/school contact as they have in the past if there are questions or concerns with a textbook or material that has been submitted.

What if I miss the deadline for adding material? When does it get locked?

The system will remain available for entering/updating textbooks and materials until the beginning of the term. Please understand that the closer we get to the term the more challenging it is for the bookstores to have the textbooks and materials available for students. Also, for compliance with the Higher Education Opportunity Act we need to do our best to have the textbooks and materials information entered before priority registration for the term.

How can I tell if materials for a class have been recently changed?

The Course Offerings system will display the most recent date on which any textbook or materials were updated for the class section.

Can I import data into the application (for example, an Excel spreadsheet)?

This is planned as an enhancement for the system and should be available in the future.

I'm a (insert role here). What do I see?

• Faculty member: You see all class sections to which you are officially assigned as an instructor in the Student Information System.
• Department Chair/School Director: You see and can edit all class sections for your department/school.
• Department/School Staff: If your chair/director has told the Registrar's Office to grant access to you then you have access to see and edit all class sections for your department/school.
• Regional campus user: You see and can edit all class sections for your campus.

What about the prices? Who determines them? What if they're wrong?

The Higher Education Opportunity Act requires that an approximate price be provided to students in advance of registration for the class. It is an approximate price and we provide this disclaimer in the Course Offerings. The person who is entering the textbooks and materials information will need to enter an approximate price. The publisher should provide a price to the faculty member when the textbook information is provided to the faculty member. Remember the price is approximate and is used to help students plan. You may obtain the price in whatever manner you choose, i.e. call a bookstore, search online, obtain from the publisher, etc.

What does the search for an ISBN return?

The search for an ISBN feature obtains information from the Open Library database or from the database being built from ISBNs being entered into this software. It may return author(s), title, edition, copyright date, but it depends on what has been entered in the Open Library database/Ohio University database.

Is the Textbook system going to go away if PeopleSoft produces a textbook application?

Currently the functionality in PeopleSoft for textbooks is not as robust as the Ohio University Textbook system. At the time PeopleSoft is implemented we will re-evaluate the functionality and, based on the results of that analysis, we might continue to use the Textbook system built by Ohio University and integrate it with PeopleSoft, or we might take advantage of the functionality provided by PeopleSoft.

How do I handle dual-listed or multi-campus classes?

The Textbook system permits you to select multiple class sections and assign the same textbooks and materials to the class sections. You will build the list of class sections that have the same textbooks and materials by clicking the green plus icon to add each class to the list of Selected Classes.

Will approved course fee amounts show in Textbook?

Each course with an approved course fee will have a yellow coin stack icon beside each class section offered indicating that that class section has an approved course fee. A standard fee note has been associated to each class section with an approved fee. You will need to verify that the standard fee note assigned is appropriate and if not, change to another standard fee note. The fee amount does not display in the Textbook system, but does display in the Course Offerings. The Registrar's Office also provides a listing of all approved course fees on its Web site at http://www.ohio.edu/registrar/tuitionandfees.cfm.

Can I see if a textbook is used in a previous term?

The initial use of the Textbook system requires the entering of all textbooks and materials used in class sections. A future enhancement to the system is to provide functionality to permit a department/school to easily assign the same textbooks and materials to future offerings of the same course.

Is Textbook information available in Web Registration?

No. The Textbook information will not display in Web Registration, but is available in Course Offerings.

Can I be reminded when it's time to add or review textbooks?

Currently the department chair/school director will notify faculty and staff when textbooks and materials need to be entered. A future enhancement request is to include automated messaging to remind faculty and staff to update the textbook information.

What sort of training is available? Who do I contact if I need help?

There are reference materials and online tutorials available at http://www.ohio.edu/registrar/textbook.cfm. If you need to speak to someone please contact the OIT Help Desk at 740-593-1222.

Do I have to do anything special to get the Textbook information to show in Course Offerings?

No. The textbook information will automatically display in Course Offerings.

What do I do if the ISBN search returns nothing?

You will need to enter the author(s), title, edition, and copyright date.

What if the textbook is available only at a specific bookstore (or on a specific Web site)?

The textbook information will be provided automatically to each local bookstore. If you are certain that the book can be obtained only at a specific bookstore (or via a specific Web site), then you should indicate that in the comments section.