As Yale students anticipate the release of next year’s course listings, the administration is preparing a new web version of the blue book.
University Registrar Gabriel Olszewski said the new website will launch this week and will contain all the information from the Yale College Programs of Study, which includes details on academic policy and major requirements in addition to lists of course offerings. Olszewski said the website will make it easier for students to locate updated information about classes, departments and majors. Although the website will be a complete online version of the print blue book, the University does not currently have plans to discontinue the print edition.
“Even though the blue book in its print version is very much loved and used by a good number of the community, there’s a large number that really wanted it in web format,” Olszewski said. “We were basically meeting the community where we know many of them are and most of them are heading.”
Yale College Director of Strategic Communications Paul McKinley DRA ’96 said physical copies of the blue book will be available for free in the Yale Bookstore at the beginning of the semester. The administration will no longer mail the book to students’ homes over the summer.
Olszewski acknowledged that the days of the print blue book may be numbered.
“I believe, and we’ve seen this bear out in all our peers, that the number we print will just get smaller and smaller over time, but I don’t know how long that trajectory will take,” Olszewski said. “I will continue to print [the blue book] because I know there is a need, even if I have to print only a couple hundred each year.”
Despite significant overlap, Olszewski said the new website will not replace the Online Course Information, Online Course Selection or Yale BlueBook platforms, though he added that the sites could be updated or consolidated in the future.
Administrators said they hope to expand the new website, which will be compatible with smart phones and tablets, to cater to the graduate and professional schools.