Yun Wan

An instructor at the University of Houston-Victoria didn’t just write the book on online comparison shopping services. He edited it.

Yun Wan, an assistant professor of computer science, served as editor for “Comparison-Shopping Services and Agent Designs,” a reference book published earlier this month by IGI Global, based in Hershey, Penn.

Comparison shopping services, also known as “shop-bots,” work like search engines to help consumers get the best prices on items.

“With a shop-bot, you can enter a search keyword, like ‘iPod,’ and it will go to a list of online stores and find where you can get the lowest price,” Wan said. The engine then will display the results for the customer, often with additional information like taxes, shipping rates and vendor reputation.

The book examines the subject from points of view ranging from how to create such search engines to how they affect the global marketplace. The book provides e-commerce and agent technology researchers, academicians and practitioners with a useful overview and reference of the latest advancements in the field.

Wan, who is director of graduate programs in computer information systems in the Science, Technology and Mathematics division of the School of Arts & Sciences, wrote the first chapter of the book and co-wrote a chapter about how shop-bot technology affects small to medium companies with faculty members from Singapore Management University.

Wan was asked to edit the book based on several papers he published about the subject, including his doctoral thesis.

“I’m very proud to have been able to contribute to the available reference works in this emerging field,” Wan said. “I hope that this book helps inspire others to do more research into this technology.”

Wan joins a growing list of UHV employees who have been asked by book publishers to share their knowledge.

“The companies that produce works of nonfiction look for bright scholars who excel at sharing that knowledge with others; the gifts that make one a good teacher also make one a good editor of educational books,” said Jeffrey Di Leo, dean of the UHV School of Arts & Sciences. “I’m very proud that publishers are finding more of these experts among the talented faculty in the UHV School of Arts & Sciences.”

“Comparison-Shopping Services and Agent Designs” is now available from major book retailers. An online edition also is available from the publisher at www.igi-global.com. Wan encouraged interested buyers to use a shop-bot to find the best possible price for the work.