Acquisitions Links
Acquisitions & Collection Development (General)
- AcqWeb
- The resource site for library acquisitions and collection development (hence also for anyone interested in books and publishing), including worldwide books in- and out-of-print information, online access to publishers, booksellers, library catalogs, specialized information, and a wealth of other useful links.
- AcqWeb's Directory of Book Reviews on the Web
- Lengthy classified directory of links to book review sites on the web, including book review tools (general, popular press, scholarly, etc.) and book review sources by subject area. Some links may be out of date.
- AcqWeb's Directory of Publishers and Vendors
- Worldwide listings of publishers and library materials vendors, including web sites, online publisher catalogs, and email addresses.
- AcqWeb's Directory of Publishers and Vendors: Rare and Antiquarian Book Vendors
- Alphabetical worldwide listing of online used and antiquarian book dealers, with brief descriptions of their specialties.
- AcqWeb's Library & Information Science Resources: Collection Development Sites
- Links to collection development resources, including general sites, book reviews, collection development policy lists, and selecting web resources.
- AcqWeb's World Wide Web Collections and Resources (Electronic books and publishing links)
- Links to several useful resources relating to electronic publishing on the web, including electronic books and journals, LC's Electronic Texts and Publishing Resources, the On-line Books Page, Writer's Net, and others.
- Electronic Texts and Publishing Resources (Library of Congress)
- An enormously rich site with links to several categories of resources, of which many are full-text: General, full-text Electronic Texts and Collections, full-text Works by Specific Authors, Government and Legal Documents, Poetry Sites, Etext Newsletters, Commercial Electronic Booksellers, and Electronic Publishers and Publishing.
- Internet Library for Librarians
- The Acquisitions/Serials/Collection Development portion of the Ready Reference page
of this site provides a variety of links to online information such as publisher catalogs and book award and book review sites.
Other segments on the page link to other useful items such as postage and shipping rate
sites, various online directories, language dictionaries, and other kinds of information sources similar to those on the AcqWeb site.
- The On-Line Books Page
- A directory to currently over 11,000 full-text books "that can be freely read right on the Internet". Founded in 1993 by John Mark Ockerbloom at Carnegie Mellon University,
now hosted at the University of Pennsylvania Library. Actively maintained, the site seeks input from anyone as to new books which have, will, or have been requested to become freely available on the web. New titles are added almost daily.
- Representative Collection Development Policy Statements for Electronic Formats
- Links to electronic resources collection development policy statements of various libraries. Maintained by Collection Development Policies Committee of ALA's RUSA/CODES.
Books-in-Print Tools & Publisher/Bookseller Directories
US & General Sources
- AcqWeb's Directory of Publishers and Vendors
- Worldwide listings of publishers and library materials vendors, including web sites, online publisher catalogs, and email addresses.
- AcqWeb's Other Links to Publishers and Books
- Miscellaneous links to a wide variety of web sites related to book publishing, such as Alternative Press Center, BookWire, Remaindered Bargain Books Online, Yahoo's List of Publishers on the Web, etc.
- AcqWeb's Verification Tools: In Print and Price Listing Resources
- Worldwide listings of in-print and out-of-print sources on the web, including listings by country and format. Also provides links to major library catalogs on the web and to collections of full-text and other electronic information.
- American Association of University Presses Online Catalog (AAUP)
- Permits online book and journal searching and ordering from the combined online catalogs
of member university presses, or from an individual catalog. "The Association of American University Presses
Online Catalog began business in September 1995 and has been growing ever since.
We currently list over 75,000 book titles from over 60 presses." Also links
to about 40 other scholarly non-AAUP presses' catalogs.
- ABAA Booksellers Directory
- Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America, access to member dealers geographically or by specialty. Permits searching for books from the combined online listings of member dealers or from their own catalogs.
- American Booksellers Association (ABA)
- Access to the more than 4,000 member bookstores and bookdealers in the US, Canada, and other countries.
- Best Big On-Line Bookstores (McOrphan)
- Not a metasite, this is a classified directory of booksellers on the web which evaluates and links separately to each featured site. The list is divided into useful categories: Big Bookstores, Midsized Bookstores, Antiquarian Books, Foreign Books,Book Publishers, Book Reviews, etc.
A useful site even if it means digging, as the entries are not alphabetized. Last updated Aug. 1999.
- Books in Print. 52d edition, 1999-2000, 9 vols. (Ref. Z1215 P972)
- BIP is the standard source for identifying books in print in the US. It currently lists over 1.5 million
titles in print in hardcover or paperback (primarily in English), as reported by over 60,000 publishers or distributors of non-US-published books.
The library keeps only the latest edition of the print version. The
1999-2000 edition includes 9 vols: Authors (4 vols), Titles (4 vols), and Publishers (1 vol).
Two electronic versions of BIP are also available:
- Books in Print. (Bowker)
- Updated weekly. Provides access to over 3,000,000 "records of in-print, out-of-print, and forthcoming books from over 44,000 North American publishers." "Includes thousands of full-text book reviews from sources including Choice, Kirkus, Library Journal, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal."
- Global Books in Print on Disc (CD-ROM subscription, kept in the Acquisitions Dept.; ask at the Information Desk)
- Global books in print provides simultaneous searching of the entire current US Books in print database
as well as of the equivalent English-language databases from Australia, Canada, the UK, and other countries.
Price information is in the currency of the source database.
- "Bookshops" link on BUBL LINK 5.15: General Reference (UK)
- BUBL LINK= BUlletin Board for Libraries, LIbraries of Networked Knowledge. "BUBL is an Internet-based information service for the UK higher education community," founded in 1990.
The full BUBL LINK 5.15, created by the UK Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC), contains categorized links to more than 11,000 resources worldwide in all academic disciplines and is a valuable resource for academia in general.
"Bookshops", an item in the Ready Reference section, takes in online metasites and booksellers as well as bookshops per se. "Ready Reference" concerns "books, data, images, journals, maps" and includes links to huge numbers of specialized research sources in these areas around the world.
- Bowker Annual of Library and Book Trade Information. 44th edition, 1999. (Ref. Z 731 A47)
- Latest edition kept in Reference; previous editions, 1984-date, kept in UWF Book Stacks. A standard
source for library and book trade information. Each edition contains
reports on the year's work by Federal libraries and library organizations; special reports; library and book trade
statistical and research reports on book production and prices, etc., for the US and other countries; literary award-winning and
other "distinguished" books during the past year; a directory of organizations; and other information.
- Evelyn C. Leeper's Bookstore Lists (and others)
- A unique resource, maintained by a booklover and traveler, and her friends. Consists of lists of bookstores all over the world, in geographical breakdowns, frequently with amazing amounts of information such as specialties, travel directions, etc. Also has links relating to major online booksellers and metasites.
- International League of Antiquarian Booksellers (ILAB)
- Founded 1947, includes 21 national associations of antiquarian booksellers from European countries, the US, and other countries around the world, with 2,000 member booksellers. By accessing the individual membership lists, it is sometimes possible to access a dealer's web site and online catalog.
- Literary Market Place (LMP). 2000 edition, 2 vols. (Ref. PN 161 L5)
- Latest edition kept in Reference, previous edition kept in Acquisitions. Similar in format and content to the International Literary Market Place, but concerns only the US and Canadian
publishing industry, in all subject areas. Many indexes.
- NB: Free online access to much of the combined LMP and ILMP database is available at the Literary Market Place web site (user registration required).
- Publishers' Catalogues Home Page (Peter Scott)
- Excellent Canadian site which provides links to thousands of publishers worldwide by country, topic, or format ("over 6000 listed...and growing...").
US publishers are also locatable by state and city, or alphabetically. Links are up to date and include both mainline and small press or esoteric publishers.
- Publishers, Distributors & Wholesalers of the United States. 1999/2000 edition, 2 vols. (Acq. Dept. Z 475 P86; ask at the Information Desk)
- The latest edition is kept in the Acquisitions Dept. Comprehensive listing of more than 100,000 active US publishers of all types, distributors, wholesalers,
and software, video cassette, and audio cassette producers and distributers.
- Publishers' International ISBN Directory. 26th edition, 1999/2000, 3 vols. (Acq. Dept. Z 282 P8; ask at the Information Desk)
- The latest edition is kept in the Acquisitions Dept. Each edition is in 3 vols:
Worldwide listing of publishers by country (vols. 1-2), and Numerical ISBN directory (vol. 3). The PID is the standard directory
of publishers throughout the world.
- Remaindered Bargain Books Online (McOrphan)
- Links to a large number of bargain/high discount retailers of new and used books on the web, including several catalog remainder and less well-known dealers. A very helpful site, though some sites are listed under other/former names.
Books-in-Print Tools & Publisher/Bookseller Directories — Non-US Online Sources
- AcqWeb's Verification Tools: In Print and Price Listing Resources
- Has links by country to several leading online books-in-print tools and major booksellers worldwide.
- University Co-operative Bookshop Limited (Australia)
- "Australia's First Online Academic and General Bookshop," the leading online source for Australian books and educational software, "over one million titles." "The Co-op Bookshop is the largest academic book retailer in Australia. Opening our doors at Sydney University in 1958, we how have more
than forty-five branches on and off campus nationally and can provide a comprehensive range of general and specialist titles." Also links to Co-op Subscriptions, "the largest wholly Australian-owned subscriptions agency."
- ChaptersGLOBE.com (Canada)
- A joint venture by Chapters Bookstores and the Toronto Globe and Mail newspaper. "Featuring more than two million book titles, extensive book news, reviews and other information for book lovers,
ChaptersGLOBE.com is Canada's largest online bookstore. This site also offers a definitive selection of Canadian titles many of which are
not currently available on U.S. Web sites." Prices in Canadian dollars. Functionalities are similar to Barnes & Noble or Amazon.com sites. Also operates online discussion lists and contains a "Booksellers Centre" which locates Chapters bookstores across Canada.
- China International Book Trading Corp. (China)
- Located in Beijing. A major exporter of books, periodicals, and other materials. It exports "mainly books, cassettes, CD-ROMs in English [and other languages]. Subjects include Chinese learning,
traditional Chinese medicine, health care, martial arts, qigong, politics, social science, natural science, history, geography, culture, Chinese cooking and tourism. Also on its export list are dictionaries,
general reference works, children's readers and art books." It is possible to order directly, but the web site is still under construction.
- China Books and Periodicals (China)
- Located in San Francisco, long-established importer of books, magazines, CD-ROMs and software, and other materials from China. Has new web site, still under construction.
- Livres Disponibles (France and French language)
- "French Books in Print," available through alapage.com. Navigation in French or English. "Created in 1996 and run by Patrice MAGNARD, the son of a successful publisher and bookseller, alapage.com is the first French Website
offering online sale of cultural products." "More than 2,000,000 products": new and used books in French published in France and abroad (e.g., Canada), magazines, music, CDs, videos, museum exhibitions, tickets, etc. Includes links to Planète Livre (books) and Novalis (music, videos, and CDs)."
- Verzeichnis Lieferbare Bücher (VLB) (German-speaking countries)
- Navigation in German. "German Books in Print," access to books and reviews when available for books in any language published in the German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland) and German-language books published elsewhere, plus ordering functionality.
Also links to its related databases VLM (Music), VLS (Textbooks), and VLZ (Periodicals), with combined search option VL* (All databases).
- DK Agencies (India)
- DK Agencies is a long-established leading supplier of publications from India both in the native languages and English. The booksearch web page seems to list English-language publications only. Prices in US dollars.
- K.K. Agencies (India)
- "Largest cyberstore for Indian books." Source for publications from India in English only. Prices in US dollars.
- Internet Bookshop Italia (Italy)
- Navigation in Italian. Online since 1998, affiliated with the Internet Bookshop in Oxford, England. In-print books only. "The largest online Italian bookstore," over 250,000 titles. "La nostra ambizione è di offrire tutti i libri pubblicati in Italia con il miglior livello di servizio reperibile in rete."
- Kinokuniya Company, Ltd. (Japan)
- Navigation in Japanese only. Kinokuniya is a well-known Japanese bookstore chain. "Sales of Japanese/foreign books, journals (including electronic journals), magazines, CD-ROMs,
audio-visual software, stationery, and educational and library equipment/systems; electronic information services; publishing; production of audio-visual software; production of bibliographic
databases; management of theaters and an art gallery." Stocks over 1.2 million Japanese books and 1.8 million foreign books. Not all Japanese booksellers have web sites yet. Many Japanese books in English can be obtained through metasites or direct retailers listed in those sections further below.
- New Zealand Books
- The leading online source for new Zealand publications. "New Zealand Books Ltd is an independent bookstore selling New Zealand and Pacific books over the Internet. We aim to promote New Zealand and Pacific literature, writers and
publishers by offering the widest possible choice of reading matter at the best possible prices." Prices in NZ dollars.
- Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga (Russia & CIS)
- Navigation in English or Russian; all book information is Russian only (in transliteration or Cyrillic). MK is the semi-official, major book exporting and importing agency in Russia, established in 1923 under the USSR. ""Mezhdunarodnaya Kniga" deals in export of books, albums, periodicals, CD-ROM discs, audio- and video recordings,stamps, modern fine art works."
Ordering materials is possible. MK materials can also be ordered through a long-established US distributor, Victor Kamkin.
- Agencia Española del ISBN: Libro, Archivos y Bibliotecas (Spain)
- Navigation in Spanish. Produced by the Spanish ISBN Agency. Contains citations for books, music, maps, etc., published in Spain since 1972, either in print or out of print, or both combined. Can limit searches by format as well as language, including all languages and dialects in Spain. No ordering functionality.
- Leer: Libros en Español (Spanish and Portuguese; covers Latin and South America, Spain, and Portugal)
- Navigation in Spanish or English. Produced by NISC Puerto Rico and NISC Chile. A combined database of books in and out of print, videos CD-ROMs, multimedia, and periodicals available in the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking worlds, with ordering functionality.
Free but requires user registration.
Handy Tools
- Xenon Laboratories Currency Converter and Tables
- An up-to-the minute means of converting prices from one currency to another, either at the current rate or at any historical day rate from Jan. 1, 1995 to date.
- AcqWeb's Reference Resources: Postal Information
- Handy links to FedEx, UPS, and the US Postal Service, US ZIP code information, and German ZIP codes.
Online Out-Of-Print Booksellers
Metasites ("One-Stop Shopping")
Multi-listing bookseller sites, or metasites, are indispensable in internet bookselling. They range in size from a few dealers up to more than 15,000.
Listed below are several of the most well-known metasites, which are excellent sources for new and used books as well as other media, as noted above. This list EXCLUDES the national bookseller sites listed under "Other Countries" in the In Print section above.
- ABAA Booksellers Directory
- Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America, access to member dealers geographically or by specialty. Permits searching for books from the combined online listings of member dealers or from their own catalogs.
- AddALL
- Very easy to use. AddALL currently links to 45 new, used, and new/used bookseller sites and metasites, including Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Border's, BookCloseOuts, Powell's, ABE, Alibris, Bibliofind, etc. There are separate new books and used books pages. The site also provides links directly to participating dealers' own online catalogs.
- The Advanced Book Exchange (ABE)
- A large metasite with over 5,700 participating dealers worldwide. Source for used, rare,
and out of print books. "Abebooks.com (ABE) is the world's largest web-based network of independent booksellers, owned and
operated by its founders from Victoria, BC. Established in 1995." Customers may buy direct from the dealer or may use ABE's secure server service.
A book auction service for ABE dealers is located on eBay's Great Collections site.
- Alibris
- (Formerly known as Interloc.) Another metasite for used and out of print books. Similar to ABE, except that all ordering and shipping
are centralized through Alibris. Over 1,000 participating dealers. Also maintains online discussion email groups on various topics,
and provides links to book-oriented newsgroups. Alibris has absorbed Bibliocity, which was another metasite.
- Antiqbook
- Maintained by NAN (Netherlands Antiquarian Booksellers Network).
The participating dealers are mainly European. From the Searchable Databases page
it is possible to search all the catalogs at once (more than 1.5 million titles are listed).
There are three separate subset databases: Old & Rare Books (pre-1900 imprints), Prints & Maps,
and Illustrated London News, but the coverages overlap considerably with the general database.
Ordering is direct to the specific dealer.
- Bibliofind
- The second largest used and rare book listing service, founded in 1996. Owned by Amazon.com since 1999. Very easy to use. Primarily used, rare, and out of print books;
access to over ten million titles stocked by several thousand dealers worldwide. Some current in-print publishers also post their titles. Ordering is
direct to the specific dealer. Customers may create want lists for titles not found through searches. The site also hosts various email lists for customers and sellers.
- Bibliophile Bookshelf
- Currently has 367 participating dealers. "Online Resources for Out-of-Print Books" links to other metasites and dealers worldwide, but the site was last updated in 1997. Also provides links to dealer catalogs and
collectors' want lists, and hosts an email list service for booksellers and/or collectors.
- BookFinder.com
- (Formerly MX Bookfinder.) New and used books. The largest metasite, currently providing simultaneous access to new books from ten major discount booksellers such as Amazon.com, Powell's, Barnes & Noble, and BookCloseOuts, plus to seven other metasites for used and rare books such as ABE, Alibris, Bibliofind, Global Book Mart, and others.
Ordering is direct to the specific dealer. "BookFinder.com connects readers to over
15,000 booksellers from around the world with a real open marketplace for all their online book shopping needs." Does not post search results to a single consolidated list; rather, the variants are listed separately and the customer needs to click on each variant to see which dealers have it
(e.g., if some dealers don't include the subtitle of a book, their titles will be listed separately from those where the subtitle is included). Therefore less convenient to use than AddALL, Bibliofind, and other sites.
- Bookavenue.com
- A new metasite begun in 1999, it is the "multidealer search engine" for Gutenberg Holdings Company, an internet bookseller.
Currently about 50 dealers participate. Similar to other metasites in functionality, and also has a separate book auction site.
- DealTime
- (Formerly Acses.com.) New books and other media. "DealPilot.com is a leading online comparison shopping service for books, music and movies." A subsidiary of Bertelsmann, founded 1997. DealPilot is a metasite which currently searches about 40 book sites, ten music store sites, and ten video store sites, including Amazon.com sites, Barnes & Noble, Bertelsmann sites, Borders, CD Universe, Reel.com, Angus & Robertson, Fatbrain, and many other metasites and direct retailers worldwide (including non-US affiliates of US-based metasites such as ALIBRIS).
Ordering is direct to the specific dealer. Prices in US dollars.
- Steve Trussel's Books and Book Collecting
- A unique trove of information and links for book collectors. Books and Book Collecting is "dedicated to providing a convenient interface
to the many resources available on the Internet focusing on books for collectors. Here
you'll find tools, information, and access to information -- tools, such as search forms
to locate books, a service for linking sets with missing volumes, or a cm to inch
converter -- information, such as a pseudonym database, explanations of book size
nomenclature, or a mini-history of the Britannica -- and access to information, in the
form of links to newgroups, maillists, out-of-print magazine dealers, guide to book
collector's references, etc. This site is intended to serve as a kind of home-base for
the bibliophile." The site does not support simultaneous searching of other sites, but it does provides "input forms" that will link to particular sites.
Some links to dealers may be outdated.
Online Out-Of-Print Booksellers — Direct Retailers
- Amazon.com Books
- The leading internet bookseller, founded July 1995, sells new and used books and media format materials, and also maintains an auction site for books, movies, and other items. "We're very proud that 13 million people in more than 160 countries
have made us the leading online shopping site. We have Earth's Biggest SelectionTM of products, including
free electronic greeting cards, online auctions, and millions of books, CDs, videos,
DVDs, toys and games, and electronics." Amazon.com operates exclusively on the internet and owns a diverse family of other web businesses. Amazon also maintains separate UK and German web sites: www.amazon.uk, and www.amazon.de.
- Barnes and Noble Bookseller Online
- The second-largest internet distributor of books, music, software, magazines, and other materials; 750,000 items in stock, "the largest standing inventory of any online bookseller."
Since 1998 B & N online has been a 50%-50% joint venture with Bertelsmann AG.
B&N is also the largest US chain bookseller, operating "520 Barnes & Noble
and 470 B. Dalton bookstores."
- BOL (Bertelsmann online)
- Navigation in German. Bertelsmann AG is the world's third largest multinational publishing and media company and the largest publisher in Germany. Bertelsmann also owns Random House, the largest US publisher. Bertelsmann's German site (BOL.de) sells in-print German and international books and music CDs. The site also links to Bertelsmann's sites in other countries--UK,
France, Spain, Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, and the US (Barnes & Noble, with whom Bertelsmann has a 50%-50% online joint venture relationship since 1998). Navigation on each site is in the language of that country.
- BookCloseOuts.com
- "BookCloseOuts.com is the online division of one of the largest "closeout/remainder" bookstores in North America.
The parent company (Book Depot) has been in business for more than 8 years." Stocks over 5 million as-new books "discounted by 50%-80%" which were returned unsold to the publishers by large bookstore chains. A leading internet bookseller of this type.
- Books-A-Million Online
- Large distributor of new and used books, music, and other materials with about 175 stores nationwide.
- Border's Online
- One of the largest book and music retailers in the US, with about 300 stores worldwide.
- Fatbrain.com
-
- (Formerly known as ComputerLiteracy.com.) Founded 1995, a well-known online professional and technical bookstore with emphasis on computing and technology and applications in business and other fields. Also sells "general interest" books.
Fatbrain also sells "eMatter," which is self-published works submitted electronically by authors to Fatbrain. The author sets the price, which is split 50-50 with Fatbrain as the works are purchased.
"eMatter" material is listed separately when searching, or, all available eMatter may be searched as a separate category.
Search results may be sorted by several categories such as title (default), publisher, pub date, subject, availability, "recommended", or "best sellers".
Titles are listed in standard computer filing order, an inconvenience--all numbers and dates before words; initial articles are NOT disregarded so that "The hidden history" appears under T, not H; and titles whose first word is preceded by a symbol such as a quotation mark file even before numbers and dates.
- Powell's Books (Powells.com)
- Good source for new and used books in all subjects. The online version of the giant Portland, Oregon bookstore, "the largest used and new bookstore in the world," with "more than 1.5 million books accessible to the public every day of the year."
Acquisitions Vendors
NB: These are selected materials vendors used by the Acquisitions or Serials Departments. Access to vendors' customer databases is by password only and is available only to department staff.
- James Bennett (Australia & NZ)
- Blackwell's Group (US & UK, serial standing orders)
- Casalini Libri (Italy)
- Cheng & Tsui (Boston) (East Asian & Southeast Asian countries)
- Chiao Liu (China and Hong Kong)
- Navigation in Chinese.
- Coutts Library Services (Canada & US)
- DK Agencies (India)
- Faxon, Rowe.com (Serial subscriptions)
- Harrassowitz (Germany & continental Europe)
- Ingram (US, high-discount wholesaler)
- Japan Publications (Japan)
- Navigation in Japanese.
- Libros Latinos (Latin America, Spain. & Portugal, scholarly new & used)
- Libros Sin Fronteras (Latin America & Spanish language, new & used books & music)
- Lindsay & Howes (UK & Ireland)
- Midwest Library Service (US)
- Yankee Book Peddler (US & children's books)