With three e-mails and a visit to Amazon.com, Sarah Shekhter saved $60 on books Winter Quarter.

“I didn’t end up getting any books from Norris,” the Weinberg sophomore said. “Just buying them off Amazon new was cheaper than at Norris.”

And, she said, they arrived on time.

Shekhter’s secret was simple. She e-mailed her professors at the end of Fall Quarter to get her winter reading lists and ordered her books online.

Starting early like Shekhter can get students Dirt Cheap books without the time crunch that turns many off to online shopping.

“Once we get the syllabus in class, it’s usually too late to order books online, and then I’m behind on my reading,” said Nadine Youssef, a Medill junior who frequently shops online.

Students planning to order their books in advance should start at the “Course Description Archive” link onthe Registrar’s Web site.

The archive contains detailed descriptions of each department’s courses. Most include the tentative reading lists.

History Prof. Peter Hayes said the reading lists can change with new publications.

“I’d recommend students send an e-mail to the professor asking ‘Has anything changed?'” he said. “The ‘tentative’ is largely in order to give us an out if something new gets out.”

Hayes said he received e-mails from two or three students looking to buy their books early.

Students buying online should be careful about which editions they buy. Youssef said she once bought the wrong edition of a book and had the wrong page numbers.

The safest bet for students who want the right editions is to ask for the book’s International Standard Book Number.

This code, unique to each edition of every book, is found on the publication information page and also above the bar codes on the back covers of most books.

ISBNs are particularly useful on search engines like BigWords.com, which looks for books on multiple online vendors. The code also can be typed into online retailers like Half.com or Amazon.com.

Buying more than $25 of specific books also translates into free shipping on Amazon.

But online book shopping is not for everyone.

“It’s just a hassle,” said McCormick sophomore Rob Kotz. “I guess (at Norris) I’m paying for the convenience.”

Even at Norris, advance notice can help students who want to get the 25 percent used book discount.

“The earlier you are to buy your used books, the more likely you are to find your books in good quality,” said Charles Depondt, the textbook manager at Norris Bookstore.

Depondt said most Kellogg books are in stock by finals week, and undergraduate books trickle in slightly later.

An even cheaper source for textbooks is the Online Book Exchange, an Internet forum for NU students to sell books to each other with no shipping costs.

The Exchange, listed on HereAndNow, requires a NetID and password. Students can post books for free, decide what to charge for their books and list them by department.

Many prices are negotiable. All postings include the seller’s e-mail.

“A lot of students buy their books on Half.com, but then you have to wait for them to get to you,” said Weinberg senior Katherine Fairclough, who posted two or three books on the exchange.

Mining the campus and the Web for good book deals may be an acquired skill. Shekhter said her tactics are part of a learning curve.

“Last year, I was just too flustered with everything, being a freshman,” she said. “Now that I’m more settled, I’m learning how to work the system.”

Reach Daniella Cheslow at [email protected].