Sure, we could send out electronic cries for help to our peers, appealing for their precious notes with a promise to return the favour sometime down the line. But such is often an embarrassing prospect when we recall the many times we scoff at others for making the same pleads. This whole "begging for notes" game simply isn't cool.

Thankfully, a more dignified approach has arrived, offering U of T students the ability to get the notes for the material they've missed without resorting to spamming desperately the inboxes of their classmates. A way to give the common ‘stay on top of coursework’ new year’s resolution a fighting chance.

"That’s where NoteSolution.com comes in," says Kevin Wu, who co-founded the project along with U of T graduate Jack Tiantai. "In essence, NoteSolution.com provides a knowledge exchange portal that allows students to find supplementary material for all of their courses. When you sign up, you gain access to all of the additional material contributed by other students."

Currently only available to U of T students, NoteSolution.com is a website that cleverly encourages the exchange and sharing of notes between U of T students across the departments and programs of all three campuses. Using its own unique currency of credits, students can spend their initial wallet of 100 credits on downloading notes at 20 credits a pop, and earn more through referring friends to the service, submitting their own notes, or having their own notes downloaded by others. Study guides are also available during exam crunches, and surplus credits can even be redeemed for gift cards.

The glaring concern with a site like this is the notion that students may use the detailed notes of others as an excuse to cut class with a clean conscience; certain professors already tend to decline making their lecture overviews and powerpoints available for that very reason. This is why the positive reception from many professors and student unions, including UTSU, may come as a surprise.

"[NoteSolution.com] makes it a priority to reward all users for contributing their knowledge to future students," continues Kevin Wu. "Students, especially those in first and second year, can expect great things as they now have a portal to connect to and gain from the experience of upper year students."

Despite being a rather young site, NoteSolution.com already has an install base of over 4,500 U of T students and plans to expand to York, McGill, and Waterloo in the near future. Several professors and student unions, including UTSU and UTSC, have openly endorsed NoteSolution.com. As a site that so easily allows students of all disciplines and experience levels to share their knowledge with one another, it's not difficult to see why.