misc.books.technical Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Archive-name: books/technical
Last-modified: Aug 1, 1995
For any additions/corrections email rathinam@worf.infonet.net
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)
Hoffman Research Services
Ralph Hoffman Owner-Manager
PO Box 342
Rillton, PA 15678
412-446-3374 (voice)
email address - hoffsearch@aol.com
Search fee: None
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
(default is paperbound) - another example of the pricing is a
1970 book, currently out of print, about 350 pages, quoted at
$150 - so be sure to check with the company. 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 the directory library. Read the aaareadme.txt file
for an index. The file you probably need is libraries.txt or libraries.ps
From this list, you can get the directions for accessing the on-line
catalog of the university nearest you.
One extensive university catalog accessible by telnet:
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: (800) 356-0343 -or- (617) 625-8569
Customer service: (617) 625-8481
E-mail orders: mitpress-orders@mit.edu
E-mail inquiries: mitpress-order-inq@mit.edu
Catalogue requests: mitpress-catalogs@mit.edu
European office: The MIT Press, Ltd.
14 Bloomsbury Square, London WC1A 2LP, U.K.
Tel: (071) 404 0712 Fax: (071) 404 0601
MORGAN KAUFMANN PUBLISHERS, INC.
Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 340 Pine Street, San Francisco, CA 94104
Phone: 800-745-7323, 415-392-2665, Fax: 415-982-2665 (BOOK)
email: mkp@mkp.com
PRENTICE HALL
USA: Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ
Phone: (800) 526-0485
email: books@prenhall.com(Internet)
catalogs@prenhall.com
Japan: Phone: (81) 3-238-1050
Library Solutions Institute and Press
(A publisher of Internet learning and training books. The Web
space contains complete descriptions of the books and an order
form. There is an automatic 5% discount for Web orders.)
WWW: http://www.internet-is.com/library/
Email: library@internet-is.com
Phone: 510-841-2636 Fax: 510-841-2926
2137 Oregon Street, Berkeley, CA 94705.
Kluwer Academic Publishers
USA: Kluwer Academic Publishers
Order Department, P.O. Box 358 Accord Station, Hingham,
MA 02018-0358
Credit Card Customers call: (617)871-6600
Fast Convenient Service: Fax (617)871-6528 or
Email:kluwer@world.std.com
Addison-Wesley Publishing Company, Inc.
USA: ADDISON-WESLEY PUBLISHING COMPANY, JACOB WAY, READING, MA 01867
617-944-3700, FAX 617-944-7273 (CORPORATE & PROFESSIONAL)
Editorial inquiries: {JohnW, KateH, SimonY, JennJ}@aw.com
Marketing/Publicity inquiries: {KimD, PradeepS}@aw.com and
Book orders: BExpress@aw.com (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 415-594-4488 GENERAL USE
Argentina: ADDISON-WESLEY IBEROAMERICANA, BILLINGHURST 897 PB-A, BUENOS
AIRES 1174, ARGENTINA
54/1/865 3384, TELEX 033 24670 MARINE AR, FAX 54/1/805-5625
Australia: ADDISON-WESLEY PUBLISHERS, PTY. LTD., 6 BYFIELD STREET, NORTH
RYDE, N.S.W. 2113, AUSTRALIA. Tel. 61/2/878/5411,
TELEX 790 71919, CABLE ADIWES SYDNEY, FAX 61/2/878-5830 (GENERAL USE)
Brazil: ADDISON-WESLEY IBERAMERICANA, S.A., SOUTH AMERICA, AVE. BRIGADEIRO
LUIZ ANTONIO 2344, CONJUNTO 114, 01402 SAO PAULO S.P., BRAZIL
Tel. 55/11/283-0035, TELEX 391 1125506 LFC, FAX 55/11/284-1683
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 416/443-0948
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: 44/734/794-035 General
France: EDITIONS ADDISON-WESLEY FRANCE, 41, Rue de Turbigo, 75003 Paris,
FRANCE, Tel: 33/1/4887/9797, Fax: 33/1/4887/9799
Germany: ADDISON-WESLEY VERLAG GmbH, Wachsbleiche 7-12, 5300 BONN 1, GERMANY
Tel: 49/228/69 40 46, 47, 48, 49, Fax: 49/228/69 40 40
Italy: Addison-Wesley Masson SpA, Via Stututo, 2/4, 20121 Milan, ITALY
Tel: 39/2/636/7431,7432, 7433, Fax: 39/2/636/7442
Japan: ADDISON-WESLEY PUBLISHERS JAPAN LTD., 1-2-2, Sarugakucho,
Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 101, JAPAN, Tel: 81/33/291-4581, Telex: 781
33239 AW TOKYO, Fax: 81/33/291-4592, Cable: ADIWES TANASHI,
Jordan: Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., P.O. Box 830410 Zahran, Amman, JORDAN
Tel: 962/6/699 119, Telex: 22262 TRV SRV JO, Fax: 962/6/648517
Korea: ADDISON-WESLEY PUBLISHING CO., Sam Ma Building, 3rd Floor, 403-16
Seo Kyo Dong, Mapo-Ku, Seoul, 121-210, KOREA
Tel: 82/2/335/7987, Fax: 82/2/335/7988
Mexico: ADDISON-WESLEY IBEROAMERICANA, S.A., Boulevard de las Cataratas
No.3, Colonia Jardines del Pedregal, 01900 Mexico D.F., MEXICO
Tel: 525/660-2695, Telex: 383 1771 410, Fax: 525/660-4930
Netherlands: ADDISON-WESLEY EUROPEAN AND PACIFIC PUBLISHING GROUP,
Concertebouwplein 25, 1071 LM Amsterdam, THE NETHERLANDS
Tel: 31/20/671 72 96, Fax: 31/20/664 53 34
Singapore: ADDISON-WESLEY SINGAPORE PTE.LTD, 15 Beach Road, 05-02/09/10
Beach Centre, 0718, SINGAPORE. Tel: 65/339-7503,
Telex: RS 20904 ADWES, Fax: 65/339-9707
Spain: ADDISON-WESLEY IBEROAMERICANA, ESPANA S.A., Espalter 3, Bajo, Madrid
28014, (ESPANA) SPAIN,
Tel: 34/1/429 2910, 429 2961, Fax: 34/1/369 3918
Taiwan: ADDISON-WESLEY PUBLISHING COMPANY, 88 Suite 7-2, Sin-Sheng South
Road, Sec. 3 Taipei, TAIWAN R.O.C.
Tel: 886/2/363/2145, Fax: 886/2/363/1811
Springer Verlag
Japan: Springer Verlag
Phone: 03-3812-0331
3-30-10, Hongou, Bunkyou-ku, TOKYO
Oxford University Press
Japan: Oxford University Press
Phone: 03-5995-3901
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
(707)829-0515,
800-998-9938 in the US and Canada,
FAX 707-829-0104
Questions about prices and ordering:
nuts@ora.com
Questions or comments about technical content:
bookquestions@ora.com
Subscribe to the O'Reilly e-mail mailing list:
book-info-request@ora.com
SSC, Seattle, WA, 206-367-8649, FAX: 206-527-2806, sales@ssc.com
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 - if it does, look
there - and don't forget to check any used book stores in your locale).
Name, city, state, phone, Fax (if available), email (if available)
WWW site (if available).
Computer Literacy Bookshop, San Jose, CA, 408-435-0744,
http://www.clbooks.com/
Fax: 408-435-1823, orders@clbooks.com,
service@clbooks.com, info@clbooks.com
Quantum Books, Cambridge, MA, 617-494-5042, Fax: 617-577-7282
quanbook@world.std.com
Total Information, Rochester, NY, 800-876-4636
Softpro, Burlington, MA, 617-2730-2917, Fax: 617-273-2499,
softpro@world.std.com
TECHbooks Beaverton, OR, bip@techbook.com (send the word "help"
in the subject line)
OPAMP Technical Books, Los Angeles, CA, 800-468-4322
Stanford University Bookstore, bookstore@sierra.stanford.edu
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: +44 223 313273 [UK: 0223-313273]
Fax: +44 223 461391 [UK: 0223-461391]
Email enquiries to JLD1@cus.cam.ac.uk will be passed on to the bookstore.
Technical Book Company, 2056 Westwood Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90025
voice: 310 475-5711 fax: 310 470-9810
San Diego Technical Books, 4698 Convoy St, San Diego, CA 92111
voice: 619 279-4990 fax: 619 279-5088
Toronto Computer Books (tcb@io.org)
521 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario M4Y 1Y4
Telephone: (416) 925-2088 Fax: (416) 925-3471
Cucumber Information Services, Inc.
Unix/C/INTERNET Mail Order Books
497 South Stonestreet Avenue, Rockville, Maryland 20850
Phone: 800-223-8649 (UNIX), 301-251-8649 (UNIX)
Fax: 301-251-0069
orders@cucumber.com, catalog@cucumber.com, info@cucumber.com
The Bookpool
bookpool@panix.com
(email the line "send info" for information)
FAX 718-638-8202
ASUCLA Student's Store
Technical Books Division
308 Westwood Plaza
Los Angeles, CA 90024
310-206-0763
1-800-456-0019
email: mceleste@asucla.ucla.edu
Reiter's Scientific, Medical, & Technical Books, Washington, D.C.,
1-800-537-4314, 202-223-3327, Fax: 202-296-9103, books@reiters.com
(Catalog http://199.120.204.1/reiters/index.html)
Washington Law & Professional Books, Washington, D.C.,
1-800-537-4314, 202-223-5543, Fax: 202-223-5546, law@reiters.com
The Electric Bookstore Inc. (Tom Tschritter, Manager
tom@electric.interlog.com)
P.O. Box 47632, 939 Lawrence Avenue East,
Don Mills, Ontario, Canada M3C 3S7
Telephone (416) 510 1247
Facsimile (416) 510 1246
E-Mail books@electric.interlog.com
URL http://www.cadvision.com/bookstore/electric.html
University Book Store, Madison, WI,
Phone: 800-993-BOOK or 608-257-3784
Fax: 608-257-9479
http://www.univbkstr.com
info@univbkstr.com (auto-reply with more addresses),
orders@univbkstr.com
techbooks@univbkstr.com
Hoffman Research Services
[See under question 2 above for more information.]
Credits for part of the list:
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: 0937 546958/59 Fax: 0937 546979 Tlx: 557381
Credits: Adrian Wontroba, John R Levine
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