PU students design book website
By Sanjeev Singh Bariana
Tribune News Service

CHANDIGARH, Dec 19 — In a commendable achievement, a four-member team of Panjab University students has designed a book shopping system on the Internet.

The team includes Munish Jauhar, Wangchuk Dorjay and Aashish K. Sharma from the Department of Computer Applications. Anil Sharma, on the list of university staff, also assisted the project of creating the website called www.inthebrowser.com.

It will provide the service of 'buy or borrow' on computer. In the first phase, the system is linked to Browser, an experimental book store and library in Sector 35. The enterprise is being tried as a 'first integrated book store and library' nationally or even globally, claims Munish. Consumers have the facility to order the selected work on computer and receive delivery at home.

Jauhar told The Tribune that the service had been developed keeping in mind a user-friendly method. Books can be accessed under various heads like authors, titles, publishers etc.

Dorjay said the system would provide information on books, market reaction and reviews. Book reviews and other related features would appear under the same head. The system has additional information on a large number of publications. More features would be added, Dorjay added.

Mr Pankaj Singh, who heads Browser, said the idea about a library was pertinent to current times when readership had gone down. High prices of books was one of the reasons. The source has more than 20,000 titles.

The service also lists the market price of the book and discount, if any. Membership is a must for borrowing books.

Aashish Sharma said that work on the service began in the last week of October and concluded yesterday. The service gets online today. The service is good for local residents. However, books will be sent to any place on order.

The service has the facility of receipt of money through cash or drafts. Receipt through credit cards is being considered.

The system will also provide for updating the available records. There would also be a regular follow-up of new events. The period for which members can borrow books is unlimited. The fully computerised operation also has a special section for children.