Website sells students' notes

Students at IU can now capitalize from the sale of their class notes and study guides through the use of an online service.

Notehall.com established momentum in 2008 when it was found that at least 40 percent of students at the University of Arizona were using the service.

“The pay for note takers is commission and flat-rate based on notes you sell and what classes you’re in,” sophomore and note taker Gabrielle Rapin said. “Usually, the science classes make more money than, like, a history class would because there’s more people in it.”

The service later gained criticism when it was expressed that the material distributed through the website was a violation of intellectual property rights, or students profiting off work that is not their own.

Rapin said Notehall has made an agreement with the University to be allowed to post materials.

She said that this agreement was made between Notehall and a committee she referred to as the “academic advising committee.”

“They made an agreement with the University to be allowed to post notes and do all that kind of stuff, but it’s a national-based company,” Rapin said. “It’s not just for IU.”

However, Dean of Students Harold “Pete” Goldsmith, along with Vice Provost of Undergraduate Education Sonya Stephens said no such agreement exists between the University and Notehall, and also said, to his knowledge, there is no such academic advising committee.

“I personally have never heard of (Notehall),” Goldsmith said. “I don’t think very highly of (such websites).”

Goldsmith said learning to utilize organizational concepts and actively participating in the academic environment are all part of the learning experience.

Rapin said Notehall is hoping to establish a client base at IU.

“Notehall is a site where kids can post their notes and study guides or flash cards, basically any form of study material and broadcast it through sites like OnCourse or Facebook and get their classmates to buy them as secondary study materials,” Rapin said.

Rapin said freshman-level mass lectures, often containing hundreds of students, tend to be the most popular.

According to the company’s website, Notehall’s mission is to “bring classmates together in a virtual setting in hopes of enhancing the overall academic success of college students nationwide.”

The website said it aims to facilitate student success through ways that allow for interaction and also “the opportunity to seek supplemental study materials for thorough comprehension of all required subject matters.”

Notehall does not produce the academic materials; it only markets them.

“We are also dedicated to ensuring an equal playing field for all students to make the most of their academic career by providing a forum accessible to all students for the free exchange of intellectual dialogue and information,” according to the website.

Rapin said her instructors have not yet raised any ethical concerns as far as the program is concerned and certain instructors have even purchased her notes through Notehall and used them as teaching aids.

“It’s not to be something for slackers to use on a regular basis. Yeah, that’s going to happen, but you just hope that it’s not,” Rapin said.