For this discovery exercise I decided to check out Biblio.com which is an online directory, useful for sourcing used, rare, and out-of-print books. It does have some Australian content, but is an American based company situated in Asheville, North Carolina. Biblio.com guarantees a 100% satisfactory shopping experience including 100% transaction guarantee.
One of the things I loved about this website is that you can search just the rare books section and select from various categories such as signed books, rare military books, children's books (my area of interest), rare manuscripts & documents, and many more. A search of interest to me was for the book "Blueberries for Sal" by Robert McCloskey. I was interested in how valuable the first edition published in 1948 by Viking Press would be worth to purchase. Not only did it give me the price in American dollars but it also converted the amount to Australian dollars for me and outlined who the bookseller was, what condition the item was in, and a detailed description of the item with a little history, such as whether any repairs have been carried out on the material. When purchasing from this site you can opt for various shipping methods depending on how urgently the material is required and you can get an accurate costing on these various shipping options (both in American and Australian dollars).
I also did a general book search on Mem Fox and found 965 entries! Another great feature is that you can "filter" or narrow your search to signed copies only, very good condition only, first editions, paperback only , hardback only and even to certain costings that suit your budget. It even mentions if an item is ex-library stock!
In a library setting, I could find use for this when trying to source hard-to-find material for use in youth services. Not so much for general public usage (as we wouldn't often put second-hand stock on the shelves), but more for use in a specialist collection for youth services staff use. It would also be a handy website to access when a patron is trying to track down some hard-to-find, obscure title that isn't on our catalogue or unable to be located through inter-library loans. It would open up another option for them.
I am no expert on ranking websites, but I can see why it was a Web 2.0 award nominee for I found it very easy and friendly to use, as well as having a purpose in our world of literature.
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