RE: [ha-Safran] Evaluating old books
After reading several responses I have some additional thoughts on the value of books. The value of a book depends on the type of person doing the evaluation. 1. To the insurance company the value is the cost of replacement. 2. To the acquisitions librarian the value is the total cost to purchase or acquire the item. 3. To book seller the value is the difference between the cost to purchase and sales price. 4. To the publisher the value is the cost to edit, print, market, and distribute the book. What is left is profit. 5. To the student or casual reader the value is in the information or entertainment value. That value has no money attachment. 6. To the person with too many books and too little space the value of the space is greater than the value of the book or its information. 7. To the on line reader the value is in the information as the physical book has not value. 8. To the recyler the value is the weight of the paper. 9. To the scholar the book may contain valuable information or may be of no value in the search for answers. 10. To the owner of the building the cost to store the book may be as important as the physical item. If one is talking about money, the value is what a person is willing pay. It one is talking about information, the value depends on the reader. The information may be useless, invaluable, or somewhere in between. Daniel Stuhlman Chicago, IL ddstuhlman at earthlink.net Blog: http://kol-safran.blogspot.com/ Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) === Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: Hasafran @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
RE: [ha-Safran] Evaluating old books
At 10:34 AM 05/25/2009, you wrote: If you can get online access to the catalog of a major Judaica library (JTS, Yeshiva University, Baltimore Hebrew University, not to mention the collections of the secular universities) you can check an author or title list of the books against that library's holdings, which would give you a rough idea of the titles' value. Or you could check the books against one of the AJL's lists of recommended holdings for synagogue libraries. Or you could send an author/title list to a friendly Judaica librarian or rabbi, teacher or other maven, for evaluation. A fee for such service would be small compared to importing someone. You mention your synagogue library, but not librarian. Do you have one? + Excuse me for being a little blunt. Your advice will not help. First, the library catalogs or OPACs do not list values of books. If a price is in the MARC record it is a bibliographic price, not a current value. The real experts this person should be consulting are book dealers. The way to consult a book dealer for free is to check prices online from Amazon.com, Abebooks.com or similar venues for used books. For the items with extreme value, find out from auction catalogs what similar items have sold for. Value lies in what people are willing to pay for an item, not in what a non-vendor says about them or an appearance in a recommended list. Daniel Stuhlman Chicago, IL ddstuhlman at http://earthlink.netearthlink.net Blog: http://kol-safran.blogspot.com/http://kol-safran.blogspot.com/ --- Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) === Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@osu.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
RE: [ha-Safran] Evaluating old books
You can check prices on www.adall.com under the used book section. Naomi M. Steinberger Director of Library Services The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary 3080 Broadway New York, NY 10027 tel: 212-678-8982 fax:212-678-8891 --- Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) === Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@osu.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
RE: [ha-Safran] Evaluating old books
If you can get online access to the catalog of a major Judaica library (JTS, Yeshiva University, Baltimore Hebrew University, not to mention the collections of the secular universities) you can check an author or title list of the books against that library's holdings, which would give you a rough idea of the titles' value. Or you could check the books against one of the AJL's lists of recommended holdings for synagogue libraries. Or you could send an author/title list to a friendly Judaica librarian or rabbi, teacher or other maven, for evaluation. A fee for such service would be small compared to importing someone. You mention your synagogue library, but not librarian. Do you have one? Beila Organic --- Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) === Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@osu.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
[ha-Safran] Evaluating old books
Dear Colleagues, Years ago the widow of one of our rabbis gave us his book collection, which is rather large. The collection is not part of our regular library, so the books are not catalogued and not used. The Board of Directors would like to know what we have, and of course, the value of the collection, but does not know how to do this. I'm not on the budget committee but I'm guessing that our financial situation is such that it may be difficult to pay to bring an expert to Wichita to assess the collection. Can anyone advise? Thank you in advance for any assistance you can provide. Ellie Shore Congregation Emanu-El Wichita, KS Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) === Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@osu.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
