How to find South Asian books abroad
http://is.rice.edu/~riddle/play/sasialit/findbooks.htmlThis document is based on information from the soc.culture.indian FAQ (which appears no longer to be maintained) and suggestions from readers of the SASIALIT mailing list. Please send additions and corrections to riddle@rice.edu.
(Please pardon the US-centrism of these suggestions. Analogous methods would work in the UK, Canada and many other countries.)
In rough order, here are the places I look when I'm trying to track down South Asian books:
- The online catalog of the local university library. Two
online services which you can use to look up most university libraries are
Hytelnet and the Ecola directory:
gopher://liberty.uc.wlu.edu/11/internet/hytelnet http://www.ecola.com/college/library/ - An online bookstore. You may prefer to buy locally,
but an online bookstore can be a quick way to find out whether a title
is commonly available. Some online book services recommended by SASIALIT
readers include:
http://www.amazon.com http://www.barnesandnoble.com http://www.bookshop.blackwell.co.uk/ http://www.amazon.co.uk http://www.powells.com http://www.bookpricer.com http://www.abebooks.com http://www.21northmain.comAmazon.com and Barnes & Noble have over a million titles; Blackwell's and Amazon UK (formerly Bookpages) are based in Britain; Powell's offers used books as well as new; BookPricer does price comparisons among a number of bookstores; and Advanced Book Exchange (abebooks.com) and 21 North Main are networks of rare book dealers. - Books in Print, to determine whether the book has been
published in the U.S. Also worth consulting is its companion,
Forthcoming Books. Both should be available at any
good library or bookstore.
- Other major library online catalogs. The goal here is to track down
publication information: an exact title and author (if you're unsure
of them), publisher and year, and if possible an ISBN number (the
unique identifer used by the book trade).
Online catalogs of libraries with major South Asian collections include:
The Library of Congress http://catalog.loc.gov/ The New York Public Library http://catnyp.nypl.org Universities: California (Melvyl system) http://www.dbs.cdlib.org/ California (Berkeley) http://pathfinder.berkeley.edu/ Chicago telnet://library.uchicago.edu Columbia telnet://columbianet.cc.columbia.edu:2003 Cornell telnet://ez-cornellc.cit.cornell.edu Duke http://www.lib.duke.edu/online_catalog.html Harvard telnet://hollis@hollis.harvard.edu/ Hawaii telnet://uhcarl.lib.hawaii.edu Iowa telnet://oasis.uiowa.edu Michigan http://mirlyn.web.lib.umich.edu/ Minnesota telnet://pubinfo.ais.umn.edu/ Pennsylvania http://www.franklin.library.upenn.edu/ Syracuse http://libwww.syr.edu/summit.htm Texas at Austin http://www.lib.utexas.edu/ Virginia http://virgo.lib.virginia.edu/ Washington (Seattle) telnet://uwin.u.washington.edu Wisconsin http://www.library.wisc.edu/MadCat.html
Another guide to libraries with significant South Asian collections, especially those in Europe, is available at:http://www.ucl.ac.uk/~ucgadkw/indnet-libraries.html - Inter-Library Loan. If your local public or university library
doesn't have a book, they can usually order it via
ILL. It helps if you can give them exact publication information and
the name of a nearby library which carries it. Expect a delay of
several weeks.
- The local full-service bookstore. The best bookstores
are happy to make special
orders, even from obscure and international publishers.
Expect a delay of up to several months.
(Note that you may have to hunt around to find a bookstore which is
really good at this -- many chain stores won't deal
with anything but big US publishers. A university bookstore may
be a good place to start.)
- An importer or exporter of books from South Asia. Most of these dealers also
publish a regular catalog or newsletter featuring currently available
titles.
Asia Book House 215 Mississauga Valley, Unit 74 Mississauga, Ontario L5A 1Y7 CANADA Phone: 905-279-3315 E-mail: amathura@accessv.com URL: http://www.webspawner.com/users/asiabookhouse/ The Asia Society/"Bookmarks" 725 Park Ave. New York, NY 10021 USA URL: http://www.askasia.org/tas/booklit.htm Asian Book Shop 112 Whitfield St London W1 UK Phone: (0171) 3875747 Asian Publications 7137 - 132 Street Surrey, BC, V3W 4M3 CANADA Phone: 604-597-5837 Fax: 604-594-8514 E-mail: sales@asianpublications.com URL: http://www.asianpublications.com/ Asian Rare Books (specializes in rare and collectible books) 175 W. 93rd St. #16-D New York NY 10025 USA Phone: 212-316-5334 Fax: 212-316-3408 E-mail: arbs@erols.com URL: http://www.erols.com/arbs/ Banyan Tree (audiobooks for children) URL: http://www.thebanyantree.com/index2.htm Bagchee Associates Kalyan Nagar Pansila, West Bengal 743 180 INDIA Phone: 91-33-5532225 Fax: 91-33-2482973 E-mail: service@bagchee.com URL: http://www.bagchee.com/ Books & Periodicals Agency B-1 Inder Puri New Delhi 110 012 INDIA Phone: 91-11-5755096 Fax: 91-11-5795554 E-mail: services@bpagency.com URL: http://www.bpagency.com Books-India 76-36/265 Street New Hyde Park, NY 11040 USA Fax: (718) 9601073 Books from India (UK) Ltd. 45 Museum Street, London, WC1A 1LR UK Phone: 44[0]71-4053784 Fax: 44[0]71-8314517 D.K. Agencies (P) Ltd. A/15-17, Mohan Garden, Najafgarh Road New Delhi - 110 059 INDIA Phone: (011) 5648066, (011) 5648067 Fax: (+91-11) 5647081, (+91-11) 5648053 E-mail: dka@pobox.com URL: http://www.dkagencies.com Hindi Book Centre 4/5-B Asaf Ali Road New Delhi - 110002 INDIA Phone: (011) 327 4874, 328 6757, 326 8651 Fax: 011-3273335, 6481565 Email: info@hindibook.com URL: http://www.hindibook.com/ Image Publications (Gujarati-language publisher and bookseller) 1-2, Upper Level, Century Bazaar, Ambawadi Circle, Ambawadi, Ahmedabad-380 006, INDIA Phone: +91-79-656 0504 E-mail: image@imagepublications.com URL: http://imagepublications.com/ India Book Fair URL: http://www.indiabookfair.com/ India Bookhouse and Journals 2551 West Devon Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60659 USA E-mail: bookmaster@indiabookhouse.com URL: http://www.indiabookhouse.com The India Club, Inc. PO Box: 250 Voorhees, NJ 08043 USA Phone: 609-770-0670 Fax: 609-770-0705 E-mail: info@indiaclub.com URL: http://www.indiaclub.com/ Indus Books ("Used and out of print books on India and South Asia") 631 NE 31st Ave Portland, OR 97232-2424 USA Phone: 503-231-9215 E-mail: indus@teleport.com URL: http://www.teleport.com/~indus/ Indian Books Centre 40/5, Shakti Nagar Delhi 110 007 INDIA Phone: 91-11-7434930, 91-11-7126497 Fax: 91-11-7227336 E-mail: sales@ibcindia.com URL: http://ibcindia.com/ Kitab 41 Middlesex Ave. Iselin, NJ 08830 USA Phone: 908-283-1661 Fax: 908-283-9889 E-mail: kitab@ix.netcom.com Laurier Books Ltd. P.O. Box 2694, Stn. D. Ottawa, ON. K1H 5Y5 CANADA Phone: 613-738-2163 Fax: 613-247-0256 E mail: educa1@yahoo.com URL: http://educa0.tripod.com/aes000/ Nataraj Books 7073 Brookfield Plaza Springfield, VA 22150 USA Phone: (703) 455-4996 Fax: (703) 912-9052 E-mail: nataraj@erols.com URL: http://users.erols.com/nataraj/ Navrang Books, India ("publishers of books on India and Sri Lanka") RB-7 Inderpuri New Delhi 110012 INDIA Phone: 5789914 Fax: 91-11-5762467 E-mail: navrang@del2.vsnl.net.in Navrang, Inc., Booksellers 507 Seminole Drive, P.O. Box 10056 Blacksburg, Virginia 24062-0056 USA Phone: 703-961 2003 Fax: 703-961 4007 E-mail: navrang@bev.net URL: http://catalog.com/navrang/ The Other India Bookstore Above Mapusa Clinic Mapusa 403 507 Goa INDIA Phone: 91+ (0832) 263306 Fax: 91 + (0832) 263305 E-mail: oibs@bom2.vsnl.net.in or admin@oibs.ilbom.ernet.in URL: http://www.mnet.fr/aiindex/i_oibs/OIBS.html Rasik.com (Hindi and Marathi online bookstore) 5910 Thorntree Dr. San Jose, CA 95120 USA E-mail: orders@rasik.com URL: http://www.rasik.com/ Rediff On the Net URL: http://www.rediff.co.in/therediffbooks/ Sain Enterprises Ltd 3218 Saltspring Avenue Coquitlam, B.C V3E 1E9 CANADA Phone: 604-464-7385 Fax: 604-464-7385 e-mail: virindersain@hotmail.com South Asia Books P.O. Box 502 Columbia, Missouri 65205 USA E-mail: sabooks@juno.com URL: http://www.southasiabooks.com/ Star Publications (Pvt.) LTD. 4/5 B Asaf Ali Road New Delhi 110 002 INDIA Phone: 91-11-328 6757, 325 8993, 326 1696, 326 8651 Fax: 91-11-327 3335 & 648 1565 E-mail: starpub@satyam.net.in URL: http://www.starpublic.com/ Star Publishers' Distributors 112 Whitfield Street London W1P 5RU UK Phone: (020) 7380 0622 Fax: (020) 7388 2662 E-mail: indbooks@aol.com URL: http://www.starpublic.com/ Strand Book Stall Dhanur Building Sir P.M. Road Opp. Bank of Tokyo Fort, Mumbai 400 001 INDIA Phone: (office) 011-91-22- 2051754, 2630154 (shop) 011-91-22- 2661994, 2661719 Fax: 011-91-22- 2088071, 2630154 E-mail: strandbk@bom4.vsnl.net.in Vedams Books International 12A/11, W.E. Area, Post Box 2674 New Delhi 110 005 INDIA Fax: 91-11-574 5114 E-mail: vedams@vedamsbooks.com URL: http://www.vedamsbooks.com/ WisdOM Books Pvt.Ltd. 11/B, Earle Street Calcutta 700026 INDIA Phone: +91(33)476-4311/4313 Fax: +91(33)476-4313/4311 E-mail: admin@WisdOMbooks.com URL: http://www.WisdOMbooks.com
Back to SASIALIT-- Prentiss Riddle (riddle@io.com) 2002.01.29