Internet sources ease students' textbook costs

As the end of the semester approaches, some students will be looking forward to selling back their textbooks. For those who can't make it to the bookstores, there are alternative ways of selling your textbook online.

Two Web sites that some students use include Amazon.com and Half.com, but a new Web site has become a new resource for students at UNC. This Web site is Uloop.com.

According to the press release, Uloop can be used for buying and selling books, finding roommates and housing as well as finding internships and jobs. Approximately 8,000 students from the University of Northern Colorado are using the site now.

"We're very excited to serve the university community in this way," said Scott Lewis, Campus Director with Uloop. "Uloop is a safe and local way to connect with Northern Colorado classmates. We're seeing more and more Northern Colorado students buying and selling textbooks through Uloop.com every week."

According to Lewis, once students log on, they will only see content that is relevant to just the University of Northern Colorado. In order to use Uloop, students must use their school e-mail with the ".edu" ending to sign up for the free service.

Uloop serves 1,500 other campuses and in 2008, there have been over 82,000 textbooks that have been bought and sold on Uloop among the UNC community alone.

Uloop was first launched in Santa Barbara in January of 2007. In the fall, the Web site expanded to 30 additional campuses across the country. According to the press release, the site has expanded to 1,500 schools to keep up with the demand from students across the U.S.

As for students who are still looking at using the local bookstores, the Barnes & Noble at the University Center is open 7:45 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7:45 a.m. to 5 p.m. Fridays, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturdays and closed Sundays. The Book Stop, 931 16th St., is open 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 13 and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 14.