There has been much hoopla over the launch of Google's new patent search tool. I am pretty certain all the info was already easily available at the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) but hey this is a Google world.I had to dig deep to find this book related one. A patent for the "Slanted Book" designed in 1974 by Richard A. Kjarsgaard. Here is the diagram:From what I can make out it looks like the same book design perfected by my dog Roxy who had a brief book chewing phase while a puppy.Much more important is the article...
To Catch a Book Thief
There is no question that technology has greatly impacting the bookselling world. The book world was on of the first industries turned upside down by the Internet and e-commerce. It is still an industry in transition but there is one aspect of these technologies that has had an immediate and positive impact. Catching Book Thieves!A post on Tech Ramblings from the Book Trade yesterday alerted the world to a suspected book thief who might of swiped a couple of books from the venerable London bookseller, Maggs earlier in the day. Mug shots and all. In Seattle we have the Stolen...
Google Book Search: The New Literary Lie Detector
"Mediocre Writers Borrow; Great Writers Steal" - T.S. EliotThe plagiarism police have found a new weapon: Google Book SearchFirst there is the story of Winston Churchill borrowing a few lines from H.G. Wells, though not directly attributed t0 the Google Book Search technology one would assume there was a good chance the writer employed it during his research.War of the Worlds - World Wars - Talk about the boundaries of truth and fiction.I can't wait to find out who President Bush is getting his lines from.Then the story of Booker Prize winner Ian McEwan "copying phrases and sentences for his...
Good Night Zzzzzzzz Shops
It is official - Amazon has finally pulled the plug on zshops. After years of treating it like a bastard child who they wouldn't let out of the house or better yet let anyone visit the house they finally pulled the plugZ shops is where all the great books, ephemera and related material that was produced in the pre- ISBN era lived. Mind you, the ISBN system of identification was created in 1967 by David Whitaker and Emery Koltay so pretty much all original material published before 1967 was relegated to one's Z shop or better yet Book Siberia.It doesn't...
Amazon, Fulfillment and the Used Bookseller
The first chapter in Book Patrol's new biblio drama:"Are you really a bookseller?"In a new Business Week online article Jeff Bezos talk all about the advantages of their new fufillment program and then uses an unnamed marketplace bookseller as an example of the potential fruits of the service.I have no problem with Amazon offering their fulfillment services to businesses that sell their goods on Amazon and for many it is a wise and easy choice to make but for a legitimate used, rare and out of print bookseller it could be a potentially fatal mistake.First ask yourself these two questions:1....