The new MIT Course Catalog is now online, and print copies will be distributed on campus beginning this week.
To help reduce paper consumption at MIT, the Reference Publications Office is changing the way it produces the MIT Course Catalog beginning in 2009-2010. The main change - removing MIT subject descriptions from the print catalog - will reduce its bulk by one-half and save some 2 million pages, or four tons of paper, each year.
A majority of catalog users should be little affected by this change. Indeed, survey results indicate that two-thirds of the MIT community prefer to obtain MIT subject information online. For these users, updated subject information will continue to be available via the Subject Listing and Schedule maintained by the Registrar's Office (http://student.mit.edu/catalog/index.cgi).
There are others, however - especially among the faculty and staff who advise undergraduates and facilitate student registration and enrollment - who have depended on the convenience of a paperbound volume. To meet their needs, a small print run of the MIT subject information, current as of June 1, 2009, is available for limited campus distribution.
Faculty and staff who want a copy should first check with their departmental academic office. Copies are also available at the Reference Publications Office, and anyone on campus can pick one up at E28-100, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., while supplies last.
In addition, the PDF files used to produce this volume are available for download on the catalog web site (http://web.mit.edu/catalog/subjects.html). They are also available on the catalog CD.
General information on how to obtain the MIT Course Catalog is available at http://web.mit.edu/referencepubs/catalog/getacopy.html.