Additionally, Abe announced that they would no longer allow sellers to list more than two copies of an identical book. They may offer more than two copies of the same book if there are significant differences, and those differences are described. For example, they could list one copy of a particular title in fine condition for $100, another in good condition for $50, and a third in poor condition for $10 without violating the policy. However, three or more copies that were identical, or not materially different, could not be listed at once. This policy is designed to prevent dealers from stuffing the listings with numerous copies, thereby hiding books offered by other sellers. All of these new policies are slated to go into effect on July 7.

We cannot tell you much about Barnes and Noble's new program, but reportedly, a select group of booksellers has been asked to participate in a used book listing program. Currently, dealers cannot list directly on Barnes and Nobles' website. They must list through Alibris. As to what sort of a rollout B&N might have in mind, we do not know, but it would seem likely that if they are pleased with the results, we will see direct listings on B&N opened up to many more dealers.

Finally, ILAB (International League of Antiquarian Booksellers) announced that it has launched a book searching site in Chinese. It is reportedly the first such site in the language of the world's most populous nation. However, the books themselves are in various western languages, so the searches must be conducted in such languages. Nevertheless, the site and its instructions are in Chinese, which should be helpful to those most comfortable with this language. Whether the search function can find books written in Chinese characters, or whether any such listings are even present in the ILAB database, is unknown to this writer. My keyboard lacks the Chinese characters necessary to conduct a test. However, I can tell you there are 1,153 Mark Twain books available on the site. ILAB is a membership site, so you need to join an ILAB organization to participate. For example, in the U.S., that would be the ABAA.