College and Research Libraries


By E M E R S O N J A C O B 

The Use of TAAB in Out-of-Print 
Book Searching 

Mr. Jacob is order librarian, Michi-
gan State College Library. 

Ho w T O A C Q U I R E o u t - o f - p r i n t p u b l i c a -t i o n s f a i r l y e x p e d i t i o u s l y a n d a t 
r e a s o n a b l e p r i c e s is a p e r e n n i a l p r o b l e m 
i n c o l l e g e a n d u n i v e r s i t y l i b r a r i e s . W i t h 
e n r o l l m e n t s i n c r e a s i n g a n d g r a d u a t e a n d 
r e s e a r c h p r o g r a m s b e i n g e x p a n d e d t h e 
d e m a n d f o r b o o k s a n d m o n o g r a p h s n o 
l o n g e r a v a i l a b l e f r o m t h e p u b l i s h e r s is 
a g r o w i n g o n e . U s u a l l y t h e p u b l i c a t i o n s 
a r e n e e d e d f o r s p e c i a l r e s e a r c h a n d 
g r a d u a t e p r o g r a m a c t i v i t i e s . T h e r e is, 
h o w e v e r , a c o n s t a n t d e m a n d f o r c e r t a i n 
t i t l e s n e e d e d f o r u n d e r g r a d u a t e r e s e r v e 
r e a d i n g lists. T h e filling-in of t h e li-
b r a r y ' s h o l d i n g s , g e n e r a l l y , a l s o necessi-
t a t e s s o m e p r o v i s i o n f o r t h e a c q u i s i t i o n 
of o u t - o f - p r i n t m a t e r i a l s . 

I n t h e l i b r a r i e s of l a r g e r i n s t i t u t i o n s 
t h e a c c u m u l a t i o n of o r d e r c a r d s f o r o u t -
o f - p r i n t i t e m s c a n a s s u m e a l a r m i n g p r o -
p o r t i o n s w i t h i n a f e w y e a r s ' t i m e . T h e 
c r i t e r i a , of c o u r s e , t h a t d e t e r m i n e w h i c h 
i t e m s r e q u e s t e d s h a l l g o i n t o d e s i d e r a t a 
lists w i l l a f f e c t t h e size of t h e a c c u m u l a -
t i o n . If a l i b r a r y w e r e t o c o n s i d e r a l l 
i t e m s r o u t i n e l y r e q u e s t e d , b u t f o u n d t o 
b e o u t of p r i n t , a n d a l l i t e m s f r o m sec-
o n d - h a n d d e a l e r s ' c a t a l o g s r e p o r t e d 
" s o l d " as l e g i t i m a t e s e a r c h i n g i t e m s , t h e 
d e s i d e r a t a lists w o u l d n a t u r a l l y g r o w 
q u i c k l y . I f , o n t h e o t h e r h a n d , t h e b u r -
d e n of u r g e n c y is p l a c e d o n t h e r e q u e s t -
er, t h e lists a r e u s u a l l y k e p t m a n a g e a b l e . 
S e c o n d - h a n d d e a l e r s ' i t e m s r e p o r t e d 
" s o l d " m a y b e so r e p o r t e d t o t h e re-
q u e s t e r w i t h o r w i t h o u t t h e s u g g e s t i o n 
t h a t t h e i t e m c a n b e s e a r c h e d f o r . A 

r o u t i n e r e q u e s t f o r a n i t e m f o u n d t o b e 
o u t of p r i n t m a y b e r e t u r n e d t o t h e fac-
u l t y m e m b e r c o n c e r n e d e i t h e r w i t h t h e 
s i m p l e n o t a t i o n t h a t it is o u t of p r i n t o r 
w i t h a f o r m s l i p s u g g e s t i n g t h a t if t h e 
i t e m is u r g e n t l y n e e d e d it c a n b e 
s e a r c h e d f o r . I n a n y case s o m e c o n t r o l 
o v e r t h e size of d e s i d e r a t a lists a n d s o m e 
p r o v i s i o n f o r o c c a s i o n a l w e e d i n g of 
s e a r c h i n g files a r e d e s i r a b l e . 

T h e r e a r e , of c o u r s e , v a r i o u s m e t h o d s 
of s e a r c h i n g f o r o u t - o f - p r i n t b o o k s . T h e 
c o m m o n e s t p r o c e d u r e , p r o b a b l y , is t o 
t y p e a*list of i t e m s f r o m t h e o r d e r c a r d s 
a n d t o s u b m i t i t t o a n e s t a b l i s h e d d e a l e r 
w h o o f f e r s a s e a r c h i n g service. I t is de-
s i r a b l e , i n t h i s case, t o k e e p a c a r b o n of 
t h e list w h i c h c a n b e c h e c k e d as i t e m s 
a r e o f f e r e d a n d w h i c h c a n g i v e a q u i c k 
i n d i c a t i o n of t h e p r o g r e s s of t h e s e a r c h -
i n g e f f o r t . S o m e l i b r a r i e s p u t a t i m e l i m -
it o n t h e list a n d n o t i f y t h e d e a l e r t o 
t h i s e f f e c t . T h e u n l o c a t e d i t e m s a r e t h e n 
l i s t e d w i t h a n o t h e r d e a l e r . 

A n o t h e r m e t h o d of h a n d l i n g t h e o u t -
o f - p r i n t p r o b l e m i n v o l v e s m e m b e r s of 
t h e l i b r a r y staff i n d i r e c t l y d o i n g t h e i r 
o w n s e a r c h i n g . 1 O r d e r c a r d s a r e filed 
i n t o a d e s i d e r a t a file i n t h e o r d e r d e p a r t -
m e n t a n d n e w l y r e c e i v e d d e a l e r s ' c a t a -
logs a r e r e g u l a r l y c h e c k e d a g a i n s t t h i s 
file. I t is a r g u e d t h a t w i t h t h i s m e t h o d a 
f a i r p e r c e n t a g e of b o o k s a r e f o u n d ex-
p e d i t i o u s l y a n d t h a t t h e p r i c e s a r e l o w e r 
t h a n if a s e a r c h i n g service h a s t o f i n d 
specific b o o k s o n a specific list. 

T h e r e a r e , of c o u r s e , o t h e r m e t h o d s of 
finding o u t - o f - p r i n t b o o k s a n d t h e r e a r e 

1 M a u r i c e F . T a u b e r , " D e s i d e r a t a F i l e s , " Stechert-
Hafner Book News, V ( O c t o b e r , 1 9 5 0 ) , 2. 

28 
COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



permutations and combinations involv-
ing these and also involving such things 
as subject specialization and dealers who 
specialize. It is proposed, however, in 
this short paper, to treat a method used 
by some libraries and one which has 
seemed, in our experience with it at 
Michigan State College, to be superior 
to other methods in numerous respects. 
Other libraries, doubtless, have used this 
procedure more extensively than we 
have; however, it is hoped that a spe-
cific account of results obtained by us 
over a period of several years may be 
of interest. 

I should like to report on our experi-
ence with the searching service offered 
by TAAB Weekly which is also variously 
known as The American Antiquarian 
Booksellers' Weekly and as The Library 
Bookseller. T h i s publication is a kind of 
weekly depository of library want lists 
and is circulated f r o m its office in Phila-
delphia 2 to a r o u n d 125 booksellers. T h e 
participating book dealers are somewhat 
concentrated in the New York-Philadel-
phia area. However, many dealers in 
New England, the Middle West, the 
West Coast and some even in Great 
Britain are active in the project. W h e n 
want lists are received f r o m libraries 
they are inserted, free of charge, usually 
within a week or so. Long lists are stag-
gered over several issues of TAAB. 

In approximately two weeks dealers 
begin quoting directly to the library on 
its want list. T h e q u o t i n g progresses 
alphabetically down the want list a n d 
this facilitates the clerical work of co-
ordinating the quotations. U n d e r o u r 
procedure, when quotation cards are re-
ceived, order cards corresponding to the 
items quoted on are withdrawn f r o m the 
desiderata file. T h e items on our carbon 
copy of the typed want list are checked 
as quotations are received so that as new 
offers are received in the days following, 
we can see at a glance whether the order 

2 A d d r e s s : 529 S o u t h Melville S t r e e t . 

card has been removed previously. 
It is advantageous to have a large ta-

ble, or some spacious area (to offer a 
homely suggestion), in order that quo-
tation cards and order cards can be laid 
out for coordinating and comparison 
purposes. One title may be offered five 
or ten times over a period of a week or 
so. Also, some dealers offer eight or ten 
items on one card while others will 
quote on just one title. A decision has to 
be made among the various quotations 
not only on the price but also on the 
most favorable grouping of the orders. 
T h a t is, a slightly higher price may be 
paid for one item because it can be 
bought with three or f o u r other titles 
from the same dealer thus reducing over-
head on the processing of orders. 

W h e n a decision has been made on an 
individual offer the dealer's card can be 
r e t u r n e d with the request either to send 
the item or to hold it for an official or-
der. O u r practice is to r e t u r n all cards 
when the items are not taken, with no-
tations that lower quotations or earlier 
offers were received. 

Over a period of several years we have 
sent TAAB seven want lists. T h e sub-
ject matter has been quite general in 
character. T h e r e has been some concen-
tration in the areas of English and 
American literature, history, Americana, 
public speaking, business education and, 
to some extent, in p u r e and applied 
science. As indicated earlier, quotations 
were received in about two to three 
weeks after the lists were sent in. T h e 
results on the lists were as follows: list 
1, 80 titles listed, 27 quoted on; list 2, 
111 titles, 68 quoted on; list 3, 507 titles, 
258 quoted on; list 4, 88 titles, 47 quoted 
on; list 5, 48 titles, 15 titles quoted on; 
list 6, 781 titles, 363 quoted on; list 7, 
123 titles, 54 quoted on. T h e overall fig-
ure is 832 titles quoted on out of 1738 
titles listed, or 47%. T h e library accept-
ed about 90% of the titles offered and 
the average price paid per title was 
$4.48. 

JANUARY, 1956 17-



A n i m p o r t a n t f e a t u r e of TAAB serv-
ice is t h e c o m p e t i t i v e a s p e c t of t h e q u o -
t a t i o n s . I n t h e o p i n i o n of t h e w r i t e r t h e 
m a j o r i t y of t h e o f f e r s c o u l d b e d e s c r i b e d 
a s " q u i t e r e a s o n a b l e . " I n m a n y cases, as 
m i g h t b e e x p e c t e d , t h e p r i c e s w e r e a c t u -
a l l y l o w e r t h a n t h e o r i g i n a l list p r i c e s . 
I n o t h e r cases w h e r e t h e p r i c e s a s k e d 
w e r e s o m e w h a t h i g h e r , e s p e c i a l l y w h e r e 
t h e r e w e r e f e w q u o t a t i o n s o r o n l y o n e , 
i t w a s d i f f i c u l t t o j u d g e as t o r e a s o n a b l e -
ness. A n i n t e r e s t i n g s i d e l i g h t w a s t h e 
c o n s i s t e n c y w i t h w h i c h a f e w d e a l e r s al-
m o s t a l w a y s o v e r p r i c e d t h e i r o f f e r s . 
N e e d l e s s t o say, u n l e s s t h e s e i t e m s w e r e 
d e s p e r a t e l y n e e d e d t h e y w e r e r e f u s e d . 

T h i s p a p e r d o e s n o t p r e s e n t a n y sta-
t i s t i c a l c o m p a r i s o n s b e t w e e n t h e TAAB 
m e t h o d of a c q u i r i n g o u t - o f - p r i n t b o o k s 
a n d t h e m e t h o d i n v o l v i n g t h e u s e of a 
s i n g l e s e a r c h e r . I n o r d e r t o a c h i e v e a 
v a l i d c o m p a r i s o n w i t h r e g a r d t o s p e e d 
of a c q u i s i t i o n a n d t o p r i c e s , t h e s a m e 
list of t i t l e s w o u l d h a v e t o b e u s e d i n 
b o t h m e t h o d s . H o w e v e r , if p e r s o n a l ex-
p e r i e n c e l e a d i n g t o d e f i n i t e i m p r e s s i o n s 
a b o u t b o t h p r o c e d u r e s c a n b e t h e b a s i s 
of c o m p a r i s o n , t h e c o m m e n t s t h a t fol-
l o w m a y b e of s o m e v a l u e . 

I s h o u l d l i k e t o s u m m a r i z e w h a t s e e m 
t o b e t h e a d v a n t a g e s a n d t h e d i s a d v a n -
t a g e s of t h e TAAB m e t h o d of finding 
o u t - o f - p r i n t b o o k s . I n t h e first p l a c e , a n 
a p p r e c i a b l e p e r c e n t a g e of t i t l e s c a n b e 
s e c u r e d e x p e d i t i o u s l y . T h e f a c t t h a t 
w i t h i n t h r e e o r f o u r w e e k s a p p r o x i m a t e -
ly a h u n d r e d d e a l e r s see t h e w a n t list 
a s s u r e s t h a t a c t i o n w i l l b e p r o m p t . I t 
w o u l d s e e m u n l i k e l y t h a t a s i n g l e s e a r c h -
e r c o u l d h a v e t h e c l e r i c a l h e l p t o e q u a l 
TAAB's p e r f o r m a n c e i n t h i s r e s p e c t . 

As h a s b e e n i n d i c a t e d b e f o r e , TAAB 
s e r v i c e , w i t h a c o m p e t i t i v e q u o t a t i o n sys-
t e m i n effect, p r o v i d e s t i t l e s o n t h e w h o l e 
a t r e a s o n a b l e p r i c e s . I t is n o t a l i t t l e 
i l l u m i n a t i n g t o o b s e r v e t h e t r e n d of 
p r i c e s o n specific t i t l e s a n d it is i n t e r e s t -
i n g t h a t o f t e n a m a j o r i t y of q u o t a t i o n s 
w i l l b e a t t h e l o w e s t figure. 

T h e r e a r e c e r t a i n d i s a d v a n t a g e s i n t h e 

TAAB a p p r o a c h . I t m i g h t b e t h o u g h t of 
as a n e x p e d i t i o u s , i n t e n s i v e , b u t s h o r t -
l i v e d m e t h o d . T h e q u o t a t i o n s c o m e i n 
s t e a d i l y u n t i l t h e list is c o v e r e d . T h e r e -
a f t e r , p r a c t i c a l l y n o f u r t h e r q u o t a t i o n s 
w i l l b e r e c e i v e d . T h e o r d e r l i b r a r i a n 
m u s t t h e n re-list t h e t i t l e s n o t s e c u r e d 
e i t h e r w i t h a s i n g l e s e a r c h e r o r , a f t e r a 
l a p s e of t i m e , a g a i n w i t h TAAB. T h i s 
m a y i n v o l v e c o n s i d e r a b l e e x t r a c l e r i c a l 
w o r k . A s i n g l e d e a l e r service w i l l u s u -
a l l y b e a l o n g - t i m e e f f o r t a n d w i l l b e 
c l e a r l y p r e f e r a b l e i n t h i s r e s p e c t . 

D u r i n g t h e i n t e n s i v e b u t s h o r t - l i v e d 
r e s p o n s e t o a list t h e r e is a c o n c e n t r a t e d 
w o r k l o a d p u t u p o n t h e o r d e r d e p a r t -
m e n t i n c o o r d i n a t i n g t h e o f f e r s ^ m a k i n g 
t h e d e c i s i o n s o n t h e m , a n d a t t e n d i n g t o 
a l l t h e c l e r i c a l d e t a i l s i n v o l v e d . I n cases 
w h e r e a p a r t i c u l a r e d i t i o n of a b o o k is 
w a n t e d , it m u s t b e a s c e r t a i n e d w h e t h e r 
t h e q u o t a t i o n is f o r t h e c o r r e c t e d i t i o n . 
S i n c e n u m e r o u s d e a l e r s a r e i n v o l v e d , ac-
c u r a c y i n l i n k i n g t h e c o r r e c t d e a l e r w i t h 
t h e specific t i t l e s m u s t b e o b s e r v e d . Fi-
n a l l y , a l t h o u g h w e d i d n o t list m a n y 
f o r e i g n l a n g u a g e t i t l e s w i t h TAAB, 
r e l a t i v e l y f e w of t h e o n e s w e l i s t e d w e r e 
f o u n d . 

A f e w s u g g e s t i o n s r e g a r d i n g t h e u s e of 
TAAB service m a y b e of v a l u e . F o r m o s t 
g e n e r a l w a n t lists it w o u l d s e e m t h a t a 
c o m b i n a t i o n of the use of TAAB, as 
first, a n d a s i n g l e d e a l e r f o r t h e r e m a i n -
i n g t i t l e s w o u l d b e e f f e c t i v e . S o m e li-
b r a r i e s m i g h t find TAAB u s e f u l o n l y f o r 
o u t - o f - p r i n t t i t l e s n e e d e d u r g e n t l y , i n 
w h i c h case o t h e r d e s i d e r a t a i t e m s c o u l d 
b e l i s t e d w i t h a s l o w e r b u t m o r e p e r s i s t -
e n t service. Also, c e r t a i n d i f f e r e n t i a l s 
r e g a r d i n g s u b j e c t m a t t e r m i g h t b e o b -
s e r v e d . TAAB's p e r f o r m a n c e is u n d o u b t -
e d l y b e s t f o r g e n e r a l , E n g l i s h l a n g u a g e 
m a t e r i a l . L a s t l y , a s u g g e s t i o n w o u l d b e 
t h a t m o r e s h o r t lists b e s e n t t o TAAB 
r a t h e r t h a n f e w e r l o n g lists. A l o n g list 
c a n b e b r o k e n u p a n d s e n t a t i n t e r v a l s 
t o p r e v e n t t o o c o n t i n u o u s a w o r k l o a d 
d u e t o t h e i n t e n s i v e s h o r t - r u n r e s p o n s e 

(Continued on page 40) 

18 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES 



that the Library of Congress p r i n t e d catalog 
does not by any m a n n e r of means include all 
the references in the Library of Congress 
card catalogs, a precedent which might well 
hold for the published National U n i o n 
Catalog. And for entries u n d e r a variety of 
forms, the editors must do their best a n d 
allowance must be made in the published 
work for a certain a m o u n t of inconsistency. 
I t would be easy to spend millions of dollars 
in editing the catalog, b u t this must be 
avoided. A bird in the h a n d is worth two in 
the bush. 

T h e i n t e n t of this p a p e r is to urge the 
acceptance of a limited program for the 
publication of the National U n i o n Catalog. 
I n essence the publication would be com-
plementary to the Library of Congress print-
ed catalog, as well as to the various other 
accepted bibliographies. It would not be a 
complete a n d perfect bibliography, but it 
would be a tremendously valuable biblio-
graphical tool, both for the location of 
copies a n d for the compilation of bibliogra-
phies of various kinds. W i t h the proposed 
expansion of the Library of Congress Au-
thor Catalog into a u n i o n catalog, b e g i n n i n g 
next year, the time has come to reproduce 
the retrospective National U n i o n Catalog 
to the best of o u r ability. If general agree-
m e n t can be reached on this proposal, we 
could ask the Library of Congress to study 
the costs involved, to estimate the size of the 
subsidy, if any, that would be required, to 
make possible a publication at a low enough 
price so that the whole project would be-
come feasible. 

Future Program 
(Continued from page 12) 

provide readers with information on de-
velopments in the audio-visual field. A 
number of readers have already ex-
pressed favorable comments on this new 
feature. Librarians in practice can assist 
in improving the journal by writing and 
by encouraging their staff members to 
write. If there is any single criterion to 
guide writers, it is to present new ideas. 
Contributors should follow the basic 

style of the journal in presentation, foot-
note citations, and tabular organization. 
We are counting on your full coopera-
tion.—Maurice F. Tauber, Editor. 

Faculty Service 
(Continued from page 13) 

ject specialists, but the functions of the 
specialist might well be performed im-
mediately under the office of the direc-
tor, or out of a subject divisional li-
brary, or out of a departmental library. 
It is believed, however, that once the 
service is created the confidence and sup-
port necessary to its success would soon 
be established in sufficient degree to 
make the innovation successful. 

Certainly the librarian convinced of 
the efficacy of his calling will not cringe 
at improving or increasing services. Let 
the faint-hearted but look back over the 
progress of the last half-century and see 
how far he has come already. He should 
note also that special libraries have al-
ways given most of the services discussed 
above. Indeed, the coordination of fac-
ulty services entails little more than the 
adaptation of certain special library 
practices to an academic situation. 

Use of TAAB 
(Continued from page 18) 

which TAAB service provides. 
In conclusion, it might be said that 

the TAAB method has the virtue of be-
ing cooperative, comprehensive and 
competitive. It is cooperative in the sense 
that libraries and booksellers derive mu-
tual benefit in a new and imaginative 
way. Comprehensiveness is achieved by 
the large-scale attention given by book-
sellers to an individual library's wants. 
It is competitive because of the number 
of dealers involved and this tends to en-
courage low quoting on items desired. 
T h e method has much to recommend it. 

40 COLLEGE AND RESEARCH LIBRARIES