Meeting Pearls 1/Meeting Pearls Vol 1 (1994).iso/installed_progs/text/faqs/books.technical

Internet Message Format | 1994-04-30 | 14.9 KB

Subject: misc.books.technical FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (Periodic post)
Newsgroups: misc.books.technical,misc.answers,news.answers
From: [e-mail] (Khushro Shahookar)
Date: 29 Apr 1994 07:13:01 GMT

Archive-name: books/technical
Last-modified: 1994/03/01

For any additions/corrections email [e-mail].

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
1) Where can I find currently published books?
2) Where can I find out-of-print books?
3) How can I access On-line university catalogs and the Library of Congress
   catalog through internet?
4) Addresses/phone numbers of publishers
5) Email addresses / phone numbers of technical bookstores
6) What is the ISSN?

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1) Where can I find currently published books?

The United States's most complete bookstore is the combination of BOOKS IN
PRINT and the U. S. Post Office.  BIP will tell you the price and the
publisher's address.  Send them a check for the price and they will be happy
to send you the book.  We do it all the time.  Some publishers grudgingly
send a note with the book saying "Next time please include N% for postage
and handling," but that is unusual.  Nobody has ever refused to send the
book and at least once they sent a check with the book because if ordered
direct, they gave a discount.  We rarely order through a bookstore because
it is so much easier to order the book and have it sent to us directly.
(This is probably not true for mass-market paperbacks where the handling
charges would be more than the book!)

What is BOOKS IN PRINT?

Just about every public library and every bookstore in the country has, for
public use, a multi-volume reference work called "Books in Print."  It is
just about what the title claims it is.  It is a listing by title, by
author, and by subject of every book currently listed by publishers as being
currently in print in the United States.  (There may be editions for other
countries as well.)  It tells you the list price and the publisher.  It also
has a volume of out-of-print books and a separate volume that lists the
mailing addresses of the publishers.  The local B. Dalton keeps it at the
information desk.  Almost any bookstore or public library will have a set that
they would be happy to have you look at.

There is a similar reference set called "Paperback Books in Print."  I am
not sure what it would list that would not be listed in its bigger cousin,
but that reference might also be of interest.  In Britain, there is "British
Books in Print."

Credits: Mark Leeper

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2) Where can I find out-of-print books?

If you just want to borrow it, ask your library about inter-library
loans--chances are good they can find it for you in a library they have
reciprocal agreements with even if they don't have it themselves.

For used books, there is BOOKMAN'S, the used book trade magazine.  Lots
of books are advertised there that haven't been in print for decades.
You may be able to find the annual bound copy of BOOKMAN'S PRICE INDEX
(the used book dealer's pricing bible) in your local library.  There's
no guarantee that the book you want will still be for sale if you go
that way, but it is a good way to plan your budget.

Most used book stores participate in an
informal network (not a computer network) of clearinghouses on
information about used books.  It is usually possible within a few days
to locate copies of used books with indications of their condition.
The service usually costs between nothing and two dollars a book.

A few professional book finder services are listed below:

    Books by Modem (Service connecting Readers to Dealers)
    Boston, MA
    617-923-4990 (modem)
    617-923-4991 (voice)

    C. Dickens
    Lenox Square Mall
    3393 Peachtree Road
    Atlanta, GA  30326  USA
    1-800-548-0376 (voice)
      404-364-0713 (fax)
    Search fee: US$3.00 per book (January 1994 status)

    Knollwood Books
    PO Box 197
    Oregon, WI  53575-0197
    608-835-8861 (voice)

    Lincoln Book Search
    PO Box 5
    Foster, RI 02825 USA
    1-800-292-8969 (voice)
    401-647-2825 (fax)
    Search fee: US$3.50 per book (January 1994 status)

    Powell's Technical Bookstore
    33 North West Park
    Portland, Oregon, 97209 USA
    1-800-225-6911 (voice, Technical Bookstore)
      503-228-0505 (fax, Technical Bookstore)
    1-800-878-7323 extension 217 (voice, Out of Print Department)
      503-228-4631 (fax, Out of Print Department)
    Search fee: US$2.00 per book (January 1994 status)

    Robert Shaw
    150 W 26th St. #810
    New York, NY  10001-6813
    Send a large SASE

    Trans-Orbital Resources
    1637 E. Valley Parkway
    Box 177
    Escondido, CA  92027
    Send a self addressed stamped envelope (SASE)

One way of getting out-of-print titles is to get in touch with University
Microfilms, Inc. (or other such companies).  They'll print a copy of a book
from microfilm, generally within 3 weeks of your order.  They take care of
the copyright issues & royalty payments, and you get the book (although the
printing quality is what you'd expect for a photoreprint from microfilm).
They're a standard resource for librarians.  A 106-page book was recently
quoted as US$30.00, with a US$6.00 surcharge for cloth binding.  (The
default is paperbound).  And of course, not all books are available for
reprinting--they've obviously specialized in academic books.

University Microfilms, Inc.
300 North Zeeb Road
Ann Arbor, MI
48106
313-761-4700
800-521-0600
800-343-5299 (works in Canada)

As a last resort, out of print US Government literature may be
requested from microfiche copy from the NTIS. Considering the
source media is microfiche, these can be fairly good quality
reproductions. This method can be expensive (NTIS does not publish
a rate table, but a fair starting guess is US$0.10/page). The NTIS
will offer discounts for orders of multiple copies (i.e. 25% for 5
or more).

    National Technical Information Service (NTIS)
    US Department of Commerce
    5285 Port Royal Road
    Springfield, VA 22161
    703-487-4650 (8:30AM - 5:00PM EST)

Credits: Al Whaley, Mark Leeper, gregb@oclflt

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3) How can I access On-line university catalogs and the Library of Congress
   catalog through internet?

The lists of online library catalogs are available for anonymous
ftp on ftp.unt.edu, in directory library. Read the aaareadme.txt file
for an index. The file you probably need is libraries.txt or libraries.ps

One extensive university catalog:

The University of California
MELVYL Catalog
melvyl.ucop.edu or
31.1.0.1, 31.0.0.11, 31.0.0.13, 31.1.0.11
for journals and books.

The Library of Congress catalog is dra.com or  192.65.218.43
I have heard it is not comprehensive, and not as big as MELVYL.

Credits: Yoshiyasu Takefuji
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4) Addresses/phone numbers of publishers

Cambridge University Press
GBR:    The Edinbourgh Building, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 2RU, GBR.
HongKong:    P. O. Box No. 98629, Tsim Sha Tsui Post Office, Hong Kong.
USA:    Cambridge University Press,
    40 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011-4211
    Phone: toll-free 800-872-7423

The MIT Press
    55 Hayward Street, Cambridge, MA 02142
    Phone orders: [phone]  -or-  [phone]
    Customer service: [phone]
    E-mail orders:  [e-mail]
    E-mail inquiries:  [e-mail]
    Catalogue requests:  [e-mail]
    European office: The MIT Press, Ltd.
    14 Bloomsbury Square, London WC1A 2LP, U.K.
    Tel: [phone]  Fax: [phone]

MORGAN KAUFMANN PUBLISHERS, INC.
        Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 340 Pine Street, San Francisco, CA 94104
        Phone: [phone], Fax:   [phone] (BOOK)
        email: [e-mail]

PRENTICE HALL
USA:    Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
    Phone: [phone]
    email:    [e-mail](Internet)
        [e-mail]
Japan:    Phone: [phone]

Kluwer Academic Publishers
USA:    Kluwer Academic Publishers
    Order Department, P.O. Box 358 Accord Station, Hingham,
    MA 02018-0358
    Credit Card Customers call: [phone]
    Fast Convenient Service: Fax [phone] or
    Email:[e-mail]

Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.
USA:    ADDISON-WESLEY PUBLISHING COMPANY, JACOB WAY, READING, MA 01867
    617-944-3700, FAX [phone] (CORPORATE & PROFESSIONAL)
    Editorial inquiries: {JohnW, KateH, SimonY, JennJ}@aw.com
    Marketing/Publicity inquiries: {KimD, PradeepS}@aw.com and
    Book orders: [e-mail] (someone will contact requestor
    for credit info, please _do_not_ send credit info over the net.)

    BENJAMIN/CUMMINGS PUBLISHING COMPANY, 390 BRIDGE PARKWAY, REDWOOD
    CITY, CA  94065-1522. 415-594-4400, FAX [phone] GENERAL USE

Argentina: ADDISON-WESLEY IBEROAMERICANA, BILLINGHURST 897 PB-A, BUENOS
    AIRES 1174, ARGENTINA
    54/1/865 3384, TELEX 033 24670 MARINE AR, FAX [phone]

Australia: ADDISON-WESLEY PUBLISHERS, PTY. LTD., 6 BYFIELD STREET, NORTH
    RYDE, N.S.W. 2113, AUSTRALIA.   Tel. [phone],
    TELEX 790 71919, CABLE ADIWES SYDNEY, FAX [phone] (GENERAL USE)

Brazil: ADDISON-WESLEY IBERAMERICANA, S.A., SOUTH AMERICA, AVE. BRIGADEIRO
    LUIZ ANTONIO 2344, CONJUNTO 114, 01402 SAO PAULO S.P., BRAZIL
    Tel. [phone], TELEX 391 1125506 LFC, FAX [phone]

Canada: ADDISON-WESLEY PUBLISHERS LTD., 26 PRINCE ANDREW
    PLACE, PO BOX 580 DON MILLS, ONTARIO  M3C 2T8 CANADA
    416/447-5101, TELEX 986 743, FAX [phone]

England: ADDISON-WESLEY EUROPEAN/PACIFIC PUBLISHING GROUP,
    Finchampstead Road, Wokingham, Berkshire RG11 2NZ, ENGLAND
    44/734/794-000, telex:  851 846 136, Cable:  ADIWES WOKINGHAM,
    Fax:  [phone] General

France: EDITIONS ADDISON-WESLEY FRANCE, 41, Rue de Turbigo, 75003 Paris,
    FRANCE,  Tel:  [phone], Fax:  [phone]

Germany: ADDISON-WESLEY VERLAG GmbH, Wachsbleiche 7-12, 5300 BONN 1, GERMANY
    Tel:  [phone], 47, 48, 49, Fax:  [phone]

Italy:  Addison-Wesley Masson SpA, Via Stututo, 2/4, 20121 Milan, ITALY
    Tel:  [phone],7432, 7433, Fax:  [phone]

Japan:  ADDISON-WESLEY PUBLISHERS JAPAN LTD., 1-2-2, Sarugakucho,
    Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo  101, JAPAN,  Tel:  [phone], Telex:  781
    33239  AW TOKYO, Fax:  [phone], Cable:  ADIWES TANASHI,

Jordan: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., P.O. Box 830410 Zahran, Amman, JORDAN
    Tel:  [phone], Telex:  22262 TRV SRV JO, Fax:  [phone]

Korea:  ADDISON-WESLEY PUBLISHING CO., Sam Ma Building, 3rd Floor, 403-16
    Seo Kyo Dong, Mapo-Ku, Seoul, 121-210, KOREA
    Tel:  [phone], Fax:  [phone]

Mexico: ADDISON-WESLEY IBEROAMERICANA, S.A., Boulevard de las Cataratas
    No.3, Colonia Jardines del Pedregal, 01900 Mexico D.F., MEXICO
    Tel:  [phone], Telex:  383 1771 410, Fax:  [phone]

Netherlands: ADDISON-WESLEY EUROPEAN AND PACIFIC PUBLISHING GROUP,
    Concertebouwplein 25, 1071 LM Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
    Tel:  [phone], Fax:  [phone]

Singapore: ADDISON-WESLEY SINGAPORE PTE.LTD, 15 Beach Road, 05-02/09/10
    Beach Centre, 0718, SINGAPORE.  Tel:  [phone],
    Telex:  RS  20904 ADWES, Fax:  [phone]

Spain:  ADDISON-WESLEY IBEROAMERICANA, ESPANA S.A., Espalter 3, Bajo, Madrid
    28014, (ESPANA) SPAIN,
    Tel:  [phone], Fax:  [phone]

Taiwan: ADDISON-WESLEY PUBLISHING COMPANY, 88 Suite 7-2, Sin-Sheng South
    Road, Sec. 3 Taipei, TAIWAN  R.O.C.
    Tel:  [phone], Fax:  [phone]

Springer Verlag
Japan:    Springer Verlag
    Phone: [phone]
    3-30-10, Hongou, Bunkyou-ku, TOKYO

Oxford University Press
Japan:    Oxford University Press
    Phone: [phone]
    2-4-8, Kaname, Toshima-ku, TOKYO

Routledge, Chapman & Hall
USA:    Routledge, Chapman & Hall,
    29 West 35th Street, New York, NY 10001-2291

O'Reilly & Associates, Inc.
        103A Morris Street, Sebastopol, CA  95472
        [phone],
    800-998-9938 in the US and Canada,
        FAX [phone]
        Questions about prices and ordering:
        [e-mail]
        Questions or comments about technical content:
        [e-mail]
        Subscribe to the O'Reilly e-mail mailing list:
        [e-mail]

SSC, Seattle, WA, 206-367-8649, FAX: [phone], [e-mail]

Credits:
Osamu Saito, Teresa A. Ehling.
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5) Email addresses / phone numbers of technical bookstores
(just in case your city doesn't have a good bookstore)

Name, city, state, phone, Fax (if available), email (if available)

Computer Literacy Bookshop, San Jose, CA,  408-435-5017,
    Fax: [phone], [e-mail],
    [e-mail], [e-mail]

Quantum Books,  Cambridge, MA, 617-494-5042, Fax: [phone]
    [e-mail]

Total Information, Rochester, NY,  800-876-4636

Softpro, Burlington, MA, 617-2730-2917, Fax: [phone],
    [e-mail]
TECHbooks Beaverton, OR, [e-mail] (send the word "help"
    in the subject line)

OPAMP Technical Books, Los Angeles, CA, 800-468-4322

Stanford University Bookstore, [e-mail]

Powell's Technical bookstore, Portland, OR, 1-800-225-6911

Book Scientific, New York, NY, 800-621-1220

Trojan Bookstore (one of the best w/ great tech book selection!)
       University of Southern California, University Park, Los Angeles,
       CA 90089, (213) 740-BOOK[2665]

Mail order bookstore for Europe and Middle East:
    Open Windows (UNIX Book Service),
    35 Bermuda Terrace, Cambridge CB4 3LD, England.
    Phone: [phone]  [UK: 0223-313273]
    Fax:   [phone]  [UK: 0223-461391]
Email enquiries to [e-mail] will be passed on to the bookstore.

Technical Book Company, 2056 Westwood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA  90025
    voice:  310 475-5711    fax:  [phone]

San Diego Technical Books, 4698 Convoy St, San Diego, CA  92111
    voice:  619 279-4990    fax:  [phone]

Toronto Computer Books ([e-mail])
   521 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario M4Y 1Y4
   Telephone: [phone]    Fax: [phone]

Cucumber Information Services, Inc.
   Unix/C/INTERNET  Mail Order Books
   497 South Stonestreet Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20850
   Phone: [phone] (UNIX),  301-251-8649 (UNIX)
   Fax:   [phone]
   [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail]

Credits:
J.L. Dawson, Monty Solomon, Tom Rubinstein, Martha Anderson, etc.

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6) What is the ISSN?

The format of an ISSN is nnnn-nnnc, where c is a check digit.

The ISSN is a sequentially computer generated number, which has no
publisher link as with ISBNs.  A serial is assigned the next number to
come up in the sequence regardless of publisher.

In the U.S. they are allocated by the Library of Congress, the same
department that registers copyrights.

In the UK, the people responsible are The British Library at Boston Spa -

The British Library, ISSN UK CENTRE, Boston Spa, Wetherby,
    West Yorkshire, LS23 7BQ, UK.
    Tel: [phone]   Fax: [phone]      Tlx: 557381

Credits: Adrian Wontroba, John R Levine