Library Research
The local library system in King County (the county in which Fair Seattle resides) is quite nice. It has a very handy online search site which lets you, in addition to seeing what books are at what library and their current status, place a hold on a book so you can just go pick it up whenever it gets back to the stable. They even send you a handy email to let you know when it does.
Now, because data is useful, they *also* include, so you have some expectation of when you might actually get your paws on the volume, how many (total) copies they have and how many holds have already been placed on it. Being bored, I did a little research. If any of my five readers (who I cherish deeply) have other suggestions for titles, please leave a comment and I will update.
America, the Last Best Hope vol. 1 (William J. Bennett): 8 copies, 18 holds, ratio 2.25 holds per book
America Alone (Mark Steyn): 20 copies, 69 holds, ratio 3.45
Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore): 25 copies, 20 holds, ratio 0.8 (this is the book, not the movie)
Audacity of Hope (Barack Obama): 116 copies (!) 347 holds (!!), ratio 2.99
They actually have 10 copies each of Unfit for Command (O'Neill), Unhinged(Malkin), and How To Talk To A Liberal (Coulter), but no holds on any of them.
I find it interesting that the highest hold/copies ratio is for a conservative, topical book. Poor Mr. Bennett has fewer copies than older, arguably more controversial books. And even the book version of Al Gore's Powerpoint extravaganza has more copies than any of the conservative books I list, and it has the lowest hold/copies ratio!
So, what else shall I investigate?
Now, because data is useful, they *also* include, so you have some expectation of when you might actually get your paws on the volume, how many (total) copies they have and how many holds have already been placed on it. Being bored, I did a little research. If any of my five readers (who I cherish deeply) have other suggestions for titles, please leave a comment and I will update.
America, the Last Best Hope vol. 1 (William J. Bennett): 8 copies, 18 holds, ratio 2.25 holds per book
America Alone (Mark Steyn): 20 copies, 69 holds, ratio 3.45
Inconvenient Truth (Al Gore): 25 copies, 20 holds, ratio 0.8 (this is the book, not the movie)
Audacity of Hope (Barack Obama): 116 copies (!) 347 holds (!!), ratio 2.99
They actually have 10 copies each of Unfit for Command (O'Neill), Unhinged(Malkin), and How To Talk To A Liberal (Coulter), but no holds on any of them.
I find it interesting that the highest hold/copies ratio is for a conservative, topical book. Poor Mr. Bennett has fewer copies than older, arguably more controversial books. And even the book version of Al Gore's Powerpoint extravaganza has more copies than any of the conservative books I list, and it has the lowest hold/copies ratio!
So, what else shall I investigate?
posted by Snarkatron at 6:42 PM
2 Comments:
How about these:
> Matty O'Blackfive's "The Blog of War"?
> Cap Weinberger / Wynton Hall's "Home of the Brave: Honoring the Unsung Heroes in the War on Terror"
BTW - I think it's pretty sad that so many poor, downtrodden people can't afford to buy Obama's book. How's the poor man supposed to stay alive while running for President, I ask you??
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