If you're in publishing, bookselling, or library work, Bowker's reference works are of inestimable value. Let's look at a few of these sources.
Books in Print
Did you ever wonder where to find information on some obscure book that you're not sure is still in print? The ten-volume set Books in Print solves that problem by providing the current price, edition, publisher, binding, and author information on more than one million books. Tens of thousands of new titles are added each year. Publishers make constant reference to Books in Print, often just to check the competition's output. Large bookstores may have a set of Books in Print for reference purposes.
Books in Print Online — provides an on-line service for libraries and bookstores enabling them to access information in Books in Print with microcomputer speed and convenience. This information is also available in CD-ROM, microfiche, and tape.
Books in Print Plus contains more than 230,000 current full-text book reviews from Library Journal, Publishers Weekly Booklist, Kirkus, and other leading review sources, all on the same CD-ROM.
Subject Guide to Books in Print indexes more than 875,000 nonfiction titles from Books in Print under more than seventy-seven thousand Library of Congress subject headings.
Literary Market Place
In Bowker's annual directory Literary Market Place (LMP) you can find listings and profiles of all major book publishers, book clubs, associations, suppliers to the book business, and more. A key feature is LMFs "Names and Numbers" section, which has current contact information of twenty thousand key people in the industry. LMP's latest edition has two thousand pages. With LMP, you can reach the people who publish, package, review, represent, edit, translate, typeset, illustrate, design, print, bind, promote, publicize, ship, and distribute books. For those dealing with the foreign market, Bowker also publishes International Literary Market Place (ILMP).
If you are entering the publishing profession, become familiar with its reference tools. Most libraries have Books in Print and LMP. These sources of information can be extremely helpful in research and writing projects, and even prove beneficial in preparing you for a job interview or identifying contacts.
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