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This past August, my wife and I made a long awaited trip to Greece. For the first time in many years, this vacation would represent an almost two week break from the book business. No email, no checking orders, no buying books, no schlepping books, no arranging to have books shipped. There was one exception. I personally collect copies of James Joyce’s Ulysses in various editions and translations, and intended to pick up a copy translated into Greek to add to my collection. W

Publishing statistics on the used book market can be a dangerous job as the numbers keep changing and it’s not always clear what is being “counted.” With these caveats, as of October 2003, the Book Hunter Press database of United States used book dealers showed the following breakdown of dealers by region and type. The footnotes offer a brief explanation of what is and is not included in the figures. How are these numbers arrived at? By actual contacts with dealers — not a sa

(Ed. Note: We suspect that every dedicated reader and book lover remembers at least one library from his or her past in a special way. We hope that the following article will stir up some of those memories among readers of The Standard. We hope further that some of you will be moved to share them with us in future issues. Send your paeans to libraries past, or present, to editor@ioba.org .) The old adage that you never forget your first love holds true for libraries, too. I s

This is the third article on the American women’s suffrage movement. All three are overviews in which I’ve tried to emphasize the major books and ephemera of the period. Although much new material continues to appear, The History of Woman Suffrage is still the main source of information. “Dr Gannon told me I must be fed. …I was held down by five people…Gannon pushed the tube up left nostril…It hurts nose and throat very much and makes nose bleed freely…Operation leaves one ve

They sleep in attics, less frequently in lower rooms, silent survivors of the ravages of expediency and modernism. Most of these ephemerons, “hovering over a pool for its one April day of life,” disappeared shortly after birth. The remaining population dwindles on a regular schedule. Like ancient Anne Rice vampires, they grow weary of prolonging fate, and molder away or burst into flames. The final survivors rely on the initial act of preservation, dry storage space, rag cont

This article offers some basic suggestions for those who own or plan to open an internet book store. You can also read it just to get a flavor of what is involved in setting up a commercial internet site although the emphasis is on books. It is offered with the hopes that it will help someone get started. It doesn’t tell how to sell books (other than maybe making a better web site), it doesn’t tell you what the book grades are, and it doesn’t discuss the aspects of being a bo

I haven’t been this disappointed in a long, long time. Remember the kind of disappointment when you didn’t get the bicycle you wanted for your birthday even though your parents had talked about it and you had every reason to believe that you were getting one (not just hope)? Well, that is what I felt after my tour of the Library of Congress. My excitement started when my I contacted my state senator’s office to see if my husband and I could get a White House tour during our O

Written by: Stan Gorski Special Collections Librarian Paul J Gutman Library Philadelphia University, Philadelphia, PA Edited By: Ken Fermoyle While many reference books are still printed on paper, digital products are omnipresent in today’s reference libraries. Many serial/journal/magazine indexes are now available either as CDs or web-based databases. Most libraries choose web-based versions of indexes due to the currency of the information, convenience to patrons, and no