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Although it has been three years since my freshman orientation, I imagine it is likely that as an incoming freshman you are still being urged to reserve your textbooks at the local shops for "convenience." This sounds like a fabulous idea, until you go to pick up your books at Ulrich's and after waiting in line for a half hour get told they only have the books for some of your classes. The convenience argument is then defeated by the fact you will have to truck it to the other side of campus to Shaman Drum to wait in line even longer, pay too much and then have to carry all of these books back to your dorm.
Even more important than the inconvenience of the campus scavenger hunt for textbooks is the fact that you will without a doubt pay more by purchasing your books on campus. As a college student, you will soon learn the necessity of saving as much money as possible in order to spend it on beer. This is why after years of experience, I recommend purchasing your books online instead.
This past year the University has created a handy tool on Wolverine Access that will give you a list of textbooks you will need for each of your classes. It's available on the same page as your class schedule a couple of weeks before classes start. You will have ample time to search for the best deals on used books online and get all of your books before you even get to campus. If you're really lucky, they will also list the coursepacks you need and where to find them. These obnoxious collections of copied pages are only available on campus, but don't fret because they won't be too much trouble if you already have your textbooks taken care of.
Unfortunately, this may not solve all of your problems because many of the social science professors have traditionally liked to support the independent bookstore Shaman Drum through your checkbook. In the past they have done this by only giving their book-list to Shaman Drum, and they may still do this and also refuse to utilize the textbook list feature online. Although there's no way around this practice, a majority of professors are choosing not to be jerks and post their lists online so in truth you may not have much to worry about.
Experienced students clearly prefer the option to buy online to save money since the increase in online sales has recently lead to Shaman Drum nearly having to close its doors. Sure it's great to support local businesses and this may be insensitive, but I've personally been praying for Shaman Drum's demise since their pillaging of my funds in my first semester here. My dream has not come true however, since the Drum is now becoming a non-profit group that will be run by a board of directors and whose profits will go back into advancing their mission statement.
It's currently unclear what ramifications this will have for textbook prices and list availability but it's possible things could get worse for students. Bleeding heart professors will no doubt desire increased support and the welfare of the students will likely be lost in the bureaucracy. The best we can do now is just use the resources available and stick it to textbook man when possible.
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