University courses currently are all determined by some arbitrary course number that is completely different from all other universities.

What happens if the course numbers were all standardized?

Transfers would be easier and the university course would be all the same. The materials are all the same, the content is the same, but the way it is presented to the student is different

I just want to query a database of all university courses in all the world that would tell me which courses uses a certain book for study.

Like:  which courses in the world use the book think and grow rich as a study tool

Although some courses just cannot be taught remotely, most of them can be taught at home or whatever. So then the search for aschool becomes meaningless. You're looking for a decent professor in a certain location.

But what about transfers? If the school courses becomes more standardized, one could theoretically take all the required courses at more than one university and compiled them via transfers at some final institution and get the degree.

The problem with this is that the weaker schools will grant passing grades for the same courses that are more difficult at another university. In essence, place like princeton review will provide reviews for the most easier place to obtain course passing grade and one would be able to get the minimal amount of effort for the same degree.

The solution to this would then be a standardized test for the entire subject matter. students are students. Their effort is not dependent on their location.

You also loose friendships and human interactions, but cooperations would love this idea since they are able to interchange workers as needed

hmm salaries would then become standardized and moving up in the world would become difficult.

The major loss through standardization is the ability to spot unique individuals that have a certain aptitude for a specific, or group of skills or knowledge.

reversing the search criteria from major area of study, to book based searches are good for the autodidactic. However if this promotes the idea of standardizing education in the form of micro commodity within courses, then the uniqueness is lost and the individual drive for excellence becomes lost.

Interesting ...