Determining whether books are out of print

Harold Holland <harl<-a t->unb< . >ca> writes

>After a disaster  it is useful to know whether a book is still in
>print. Is there any rule of thumb for determining when a publication
>is out print for a initial assessment.

Mr. Holland, I saw your question regarding determining the "print"
status of books.  One searches first in Books in Print and if the
book is not in Books in Print, then one calls or writes the
publisher to find out the status.  There is no "easy" way of doing
this, as there is no comprehensive list of out-of-print books.  And
the fact that a book is not listed in Books in Print does not
definitively put the book in the "OP" category as some publishers
are not listed in BIP; that is why it is important to call or write
the publisher and find out for sure if the title is not listed in
"BIP".

If you happen to work for a university or another organization which
has a library, the library's book vendor can also tell you if the
book(s) are OP. Searching the titles yourself or through the library
depends on your situation which is not clear in your initial
question. Does this completely answer your question? Please feel
free to contact me at the address below.  I have a lot of experience
in this type of searching.

Susan Lunas
Book Conservator/Librarian

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:29
               Distributed: Thursday, September 25, 1997
                       Message Id: cdl-11-29-010
                                  ***