Libraries selling withdrawn books on TradeMe
Purpose – Some public libraries have experimented with selling withdrawn books via online auction sites, but there has been little exchange of information about the benefits of this and whether it is a practice other libraries could follow. This paper aims to address this issue.Design/methodology/approach – Original data are collected through interviews with six practitioners.Findings – All libraries were using TradeMe for opportunistic reasons. They had withdrawn books to sell and hoped that a national market would realise better prices than in‐house sales. Although prices were usually better, not all books sold and the staff costs were often higher than the revenues brought in.Research limitations/implications – The research is limited to six public libraries in New Zealand.Practical implications – Library managers learn from experience that they can generate some revenue by selling withdrawn books through online auction sites, but only if staff costs are kept down. Partnerships with dealers or interest...
From Clutter to Cash
Abstract In 2003 the University of Maryland's Engineering and Physical Sciences Library conducted a pilot project selling gift books on the Internet resulting in gross sales totaling $9,326, a net profit of $6,917, for only 96 calculated staff hours. This article describes this project from inception through conclusion summarizing the detailed processes needed to get started and make it profitable, while also giving step-by-step advice on running an online book sale. After 3 years of operation (over $18,000 in sales), the project came to an end when the Library Administration Earned Income Committee recommended retail sales such as this not be part of the libraries' mission.
Percussion marks on bone surfaces as a new diagnostic of hominid behaviour
Since stone tool cut marks and carnivore tooth marks were first described systematically on Plio-Pleistocene archaeological bone1,2, bone surface modification has played a prominent role in interpreting early archaeological site formation and hominid behaviour3–15. Here we introduce a new class of bone surface modification, which we call percussion marks. Percussion marks were produced during experimental breakage of marrow bones, and occur as pits or grooves impressed on a bone's surface by natural protrusions on the granitic hammerstone and anvil used. Although percussion marks can superficially mimic carnivore tooth marks, they nonetheless are closely associated with hammerstone impact notches and show consistent micromorphological features which distinguish them from tooth marks and other classes of bone surface modification. Given indications of prehistoric hammer-stone breakage of marrow bones1,7, an awareness of percussion marks is critical for accurately identifying the biological agents of bone modification at archaeological sites and provides a new diagnostic of carcass processing by hominids.