"I don't think any other bookstore has ever covered the course catalog looking for book orders from every course," he wrote.

UC Books is an example of a book search engine with limited offerings. Students can find the best prices online for courses in the Core and several select departments, but required texts for courses outside these departments are not included in the site's database.

For instance, five books for the core class Foreign Cultures 78: Culture-Building and the Emergence of Modern Scandinavia, were not available at any of the ten online vendors that the Undergraduate Council site searches. The program offered the following advice: "The following books are not available within 4 weeks at any of the booksellers you searched, so you may want to just get them at the Coop."

Advertising Wars

Another advantage the Coop has over its competition is the ability to advertise on campus. While the rule is rarely enforced, University policy dictates that outside companies cannot advertise on campus without permission from Harvard's administration.

Violations of this rule have been rampant over the past few weeks, as online booksellers poster on campus and hire students to distribute information in front of the Science Center.

While most companies say they require their student employees to abide by school policies, in practice, this requirement is rarely fulfilled.

According to Gershoni, "The first rule [for our student marketing representatives] is that the reps obtain a copy of the school's marketing rules before they begin their marketing activities."