Searching for Books

• Check your spelling. It seems obvious, but those computers will not make any assumptions for you--if the author or title in your query is not spelled the way it appears in the database, you won't find the book.
• Give less information. Try searching with the author's last name only, instead of first and last. If the title has a subtitle, don't include the subtitle in your query. You might get more irrelevant hits, but the book you want might be in the list.
• Try another book search engine. Booksellers subscribe to various online database services, and the search engines each search a variety of these databases, with some overlap.
• Try another search engine. This is a pain, but I've found books this way. If you're looking for an unusual title or author, try using one of the WWW search engines (I usually start with google.com, www.hotbot.com, or www.altavista.com) to find web pages containing that text. You may have to wade through lists and lists of junk, but you may find some treasure buried there. On the other hand, you may get no hits at all--at least you tried.

Don't forget to look in the used-book stores in your neighborhood! If your book is not among their stock, many stores also offer a search service. The nice thing about asking humans (as opposed to machines) is their ability to help you with "fuzzy" requests. If you remember reading a book about clever twins with a plot device that surely influenced the Star Trek Trouble with Tribbles episode, you'll probably need more than an online search engine to help you find that book again. If the book store staff can't help you discover the title or author of a dimly-remembered book, a reference librarian probably can. They are amazing, you'll see.

If you would like us to help you find a book or a list of books, email your request, giving as many of the following details as possible:

• Author and Title If you can't remember one or the other, describe the book as you are best able.
• Edition Some people prefer to own only first printings. If that's what you want, say so. Many books have been reprinted several times--if you remember the publisher or year, great. If you remember the illustrations or the jacket color, mention these details. If none of these things are important to you, we'd like to know that, too!
• Price Limit Most people have an idea of the maximum price they'd be willing to pay. Let us know what your limit is--though we'll try to find the most reasonable price, of course.