University warns of illegal online bookstore tactics 

By Manuel Gamiz Jr.
Daily Forty-Niner

 
Cal State Long Beach officials are worried some advertisements for online bookstores may be misleading and fear that faculty members may be duped into violating university policy on solicitation.
 
The biggest concern involves solicitations, inviting faculty to link their Web pages with commercial booksellers, according to Karl Anatol, provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs.
 
"It makes it appear as if the faculty member is advertising when they do not want to," he said.
 
Although it is legal for faculty members to share their booklists with online booksellers, the university has a policy forbidding faculty from advertising on bookseller Web sites.
 
About two weeks ago, the National Association of College Bookstores found some online bookstores were trying to persuade professors to have Web links to their stores, said Roman Gulon, general manager and chief executive officer of Forty Niner Shops Inc.
 
"Bookstores [in the college association] nationwide are monitoring for these activities," he said. "We keep each other posted about these occurrences."
 
The university does not endorse any commercial bookseller outside of it and does not have any business relationships with any of them, Anatol said.
 
"Faculty are here on a teaching mission, not a commercial mission," Gulon said.
 
Faculty members can share their lists of required and recommended texts with off-campus firms, but they must share the list with the University Bookstore.
 
All faculty are asked to submit their textbook orders to the Bookstore, which enables CSULB to have required textbooks available for purchase on campus.
 
Many faculty members use online booksellers because they are less expensive and more convenient for students.

Many online bookstores promise students discounted prices without having to wait in long lines.
 
Gulon said these discounts may entice some faculty members to use online booksellers.
 
He said faculty members that have Web-page links with online booksellers must be aware it is against university policy and are not being deceived by the online company.
 
"They'd have to be pretty naive."