Finding Books in Biblical Studies

I've just finished a huge project of upgrading the library catalogue at Tyndale House. I ended up writing our own catalogue using FileMaker which enabled me to integrate our ordering and cataloging into one system so that purchase orders turn into library records automatically. Filemaker is a superb programming environment, and although the web connection is not as fast as some, it is very easy to program and configure. So this email announces the birth of... TynCat

1) TynCat - SURPRISING FEATURES OF THE NEW TYNDALE CATALOGUE
2) USEFUL LIBRARIES AROUND THE WORLD
3) BOOKSHOPS (incl. "WHICH AMAZON SHOULD I USE?")
4) FINDING PUBLISHERS
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1) TynCat - SURPRISING FEATURES OF THE NEW TYNDALE CATALOGUE
http://www.tyndale.cam.ac.uk:591/SearchTC.htm
- all the normal searches, by author, title, subject, classification
- each of these are actually multiple searches, so that (for example)
the Title search looks at the Title, Subtitle, Series Title and
Uniform title fields, all with one click.
- from the result list, click on an Author or Classification to find
similar books, or click on the Title to see the full record
SPECIAL FEATURES
- you can browse the shelves (not quite as good as being here!)
- the full record includes a Chicago Style entry to copy and paste,
available in both footnote style and bibliography style.
- each record is linked to automatically search for the book in
new and second-hand bookshops (no typing needed - just click!)
If you'd like to see other features, tell me what you want.
You never know - it might be possible.
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2) USEFUL LIBRARIES AROUND THE WORLD
Library of Congress Online Catalogue
http://catalog.loc.gov/
- not the fastest, but probably the best.
- has details of many books before they are published
British Library - http://portico.bl.uk/
- search at http://blpc.bl.uk/
- now includes British theses
LibDex - Index to Libraries
http://www.libdex.com/
- 17,000 libraries. Good if you know the name of the library you want.
Tubingen University Library
http://www.uni-tuebingen.de/ub/index_.html
- one of the best collections of Biblical Studies and Theology
Harvard Libraries
http://hollisweb.harvard.edu/surfer/
- 11 university-class libraries in one huge database
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3) BOOKSHOPS (incl. WHICH AMAZON SHOULD I USE?)
Amazon - http://www.amazon.com/
- they have a branch in many countries, but they are not all the same
- the USA Amazon (Amazon.com) is the best because:
- the search looks for second-hand books if they don't have it new
(they bought up Bibliofind, a database of 1000's of shops)
- the discounts are usually bigger
- the postage is very low and fast, eg
Amazon USA charges £2.60 to send a book to the UK in 12-21 days
but Amazon UK charges £2.16 to send a book within the UK!
Multiple-bookshop searches:
AbeBooks (10,000 shops)
- http://www.abebooks.com/
Alibris (includes browsing by subjects)
- http://www.alibris.com/subjects/religion/religion-home.cfm?S=L
BookFinder (new & used, includes the big shops)
- http://www.bookfinder.com
Some specialist theology second-hand shops:
Dove (new & used, USA) http://www.dovebook.com/
Lund (used, UK) http://lundbooks.co.uk/
Gage (used, UK) http://www.gagebooks.com/
Eisenbraun (new & used, USA) http://www.eisenbrauns.com/
Archives (used, USA) http://www.archivesbookshop.com/
and more at http://www.antiqbook.com/members/subject.html#theology
You can quickly search almost all of the above by clicking on buttons in TynCat. And if you order it after clicking, we get a commission, so you can feel good for the rest of the day!
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4) PUBLISHERS
AcqWeb's list of Religious Publishers
http://acqweb.library.vanderbilt.edu/acqweb/pubr/rel.html
- links to their website (also lists all other publishers)
Publisher's Catalogues
http://www.lights.com/publisher/
- search for bookstores, publishers, libraries