Sunday, July 10, 2005

Scientific books, libraries and collectors: The study of bibliography and the book trade in relation to science, a book by John Thornton and R. Tully that was originally published by the Library Association (CILIP today, UK) in the 1950s was revised in 1971 (third revised editon).  It is a fascinating read about the literature of science, but I find my thoughts going in a different direction - to increasing book prices.   In Chapter XI, Thornton and Tully show a table of cost increases for various categories of science books in 1967-68.  General science had the lowest percent increase:   only 8.2.  Zoology had the highest increase with 32.7%, Physics increased 32.2%, and Chemistry 24.8%.  Curious about the book trade? Especially book prices at auctions? You can learn more about the history of American Book Prices Current 1895-1995 by reading this article by Nicholas Baker - http://www.bookpricescurrent.com/article.cfm?which=2.  Or you can read the shorter version - http://www.bookpricescurrent.com/.  Are you more practical and concerned with the regular publishing industry book prices? The March 2005 issue of School Library Journal has an article on 2005 book prices but you must be a subscriber (free) to read it.  Digressing totally, this humerous article by Prof. Krummel on exhibit catalogues as literature is a rare treat on what librarians need! comment []8:00:05 PM

© Copyright 2005 Anita S. Coleman. Last update: 8/15/2005; 11:47:51 PM.