Americana exchange
Encyclopedia
The Americana Exchange is a website for the buying, selling and collecting of rare and antiquarian book
s. It was founded in 2002 in San Francisco by rare book collector Bruce McKinney with the aim of offering hard to find information about book collecting to the public. From a start of providing a subscription database of bibliographic records, the company now offers many related services, mostly at no charge. The company at first specialized in the Americana
book field, but quickly expanded to all types of antiquarian and rare books.
includes listings taken from book bibliography
and book auction
records. Rather than showing scanned pages from bibliographic books, such as used by sites like Google Book Search
, records are entered into numerous independently searchable fields, such as author, title and date, to facilitate the search for data. Starting from 151,000 listings in 2002, the database now contains almost 2 million records. Book sales results from around 150 worldwide auction houses are added shortly after the auctions take place.
compiles listings before the auction takes place, allowing users to search book listings from auctions all over the world in a second. Currently, the only other means of locating books at auction before the sale is to search each auction house’s listings separately.
, AbeBooks
, Biblio.com
, and Alibris
. However, differing from those sites, sales are not conducted on the Americana Exchange site. Buyers are sent directly to the listing bookseller via an email form. Listing booksellers pay a fee of from $240–$400 annually to list their books and gain access to other services such as the AE Database. Since the sales are completed by the bookseller rather than on the AE website, no commissions are charged.
), of book and ephemera auctions on eBay
, and of listings from the 150 auction houses followed by AE. Matches of new listings are provided on a daily basis so that buyers can find them before the auctions are completed or the books are sold.
for book collectors, librarians and those in the book trade. It features articles on collecting and selling books, book auctions, and similar topics, along with general news and features related to books. The second section of AE Monthly contains reviews of recent bookselling catalogues. An archive of past articles is available.
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
s. It was founded in 2002 in San Francisco by rare book collector Bruce McKinney with the aim of offering hard to find information about book collecting to the public. From a start of providing a subscription database of bibliographic records, the company now offers many related services, mostly at no charge. The company at first specialized in the Americana
Americana
Americana refers to artifacts, or a collection of artifacts, related to the history, geography, folklore and cultural heritage of the United States. Many kinds of material fall within the definition of Americana: paintings, prints and drawings; license plates or entire vehicles, household objects,...
book field, but quickly expanded to all types of antiquarian and rare books.
AE Database
The company’s first product, the AE DatabaseDatabase
A database is an organized collection of data for one or more purposes, usually in digital form. The data are typically organized to model relevant aspects of reality , in a way that supports processes requiring this information...
includes listings taken from book bibliography
Bibliography
Bibliography , as a practice, is the academic study of books as physical, cultural objects; in this sense, it is also known as bibliology...
and book auction
Auction
An auction is a process of buying and selling goods or services by offering them up for bid, taking bids, and then selling the item to the highest bidder...
records. Rather than showing scanned pages from bibliographic books, such as used by sites like Google Book Search
Google Book Search
Google Books is a service from Google that searches the full text of books that Google has scanned, converted to text using optical character recognition, and stored in its digital database. The service was formerly known as Google Print when it was introduced at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October...
, records are entered into numerous independently searchable fields, such as author, title and date, to facilitate the search for data. Starting from 151,000 listings in 2002, the database now contains almost 2 million records. Book sales results from around 150 worldwide auction houses are added shortly after the auctions take place.
Book Auction Search
As the company was already searching and compiling listings from book auctions for its database, in 2004 it launched an on site search engine for book auction listings. This metasearch engineMetasearch engine
A metasearch engine is a search tool that sends user requests to several other search engines and/or databases and aggregates the results into a single list or displays them according to their source. Metasearch engines enable users to enter search criteria once and access several search engines...
compiles listings before the auction takes place, allowing users to search book listings from auctions all over the world in a second. Currently, the only other means of locating books at auction before the sale is to search each auction house’s listings separately.
Books For Sale
In 2006, the company added an online book listing service known as “Books For Sale.” Booksellers enter their books in the Books For Sale database, which can be searched on the site or through major search engines, including Google Product Search. Similar used book listings are available through websites such as Amazon.comAmazon.com
Amazon.com, Inc. is a multinational electronic commerce company headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is the world's largest online retailer. Amazon has separate websites for the following countries: United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japan, and...
, AbeBooks
Abebooks
AbeBooks is an online marketplace for books. Most books listed are used, many are rare or out-of-print, and a growing number are new books. The company is based in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, with offices in Düsseldorf, Germany, and in the US. It was incorporated in 1995 and launched its...
, Biblio.com
Biblio.com
Biblio.com is the third largest used book marketplaces in the US. Established in 2003 in Asheville, NC, Biblio.com has grown to become one of the largest global book marketplaces, with over 50 million books for sale from over 5,000 booksellers in countries around the world.-A used book...
, and Alibris
Alibris
Alibris is an online store that sells new books, used books, out-of-print books, rare books, and other media through an online network of independent booksellers....
. However, differing from those sites, sales are not conducted on the Americana Exchange site. Buyers are sent directly to the listing bookseller via an email form. Listing booksellers pay a fee of from $240–$400 annually to list their books and gain access to other services such as the AE Database. Since the sales are completed by the bookseller rather than on the AE website, no commissions are charged.
MatchMaker
The company offers a book locating service called “MatchMaker.” It conducts automated book searches on a daily basis. Searches are performed on major bookselling sites such as Abebooks, ZVAB, and ILAB (International League of Antiquarian BooksellersInternational League of Antiquarian Booksellers
The International League of Antiquarian Booksellers is a non-profit umbrella organization of bookseller associations, with its legal location in Geneva, Switzerland. It federates 22 National Associations of Antiquarian Booksellers, representing nearly 2000 dealers in 32 countries...
), of book and ephemera auctions on eBay
EBay
eBay Inc. is an American internet consumer-to-consumer corporation that manages eBay.com, an online auction and shopping website in which people and businesses buy and sell a broad variety of goods and services worldwide...
, and of listings from the 150 auction houses followed by AE. Matches of new listings are provided on a daily basis so that buyers can find them before the auctions are completed or the books are sold.
AE Monthly
AE Monthly is an online magazineOnline magazine
An online magazine shares some features with a blog and also with online newspapers, but can usually be distinguished by its approach to editorial control...
for book collectors, librarians and those in the book trade. It features articles on collecting and selling books, book auctions, and similar topics, along with general news and features related to books. The second section of AE Monthly contains reviews of recent bookselling catalogues. An archive of past articles is available.