Biblio and Bibliopolis Roll Out Free <i>BookHound</i> Software
- by Michael Stillman
BookHound inventory management and uploading software can be obtained free from www.bookhound.net.
By Michael Stillman
Online listing site Biblio and bookselling software developer Bibliopolis announced a rollout of free BookHound 7ce software. This is inventory management and book listing software designed to streamline the operation of both bricks and mortar and online bookstores. It enables the bookseller to upload inventory to many different listing sites. The software is being offered by this partnership free of charge, with no requirement to list on Biblio's site or any other obligations.
In a recent release, Bibliopolis co-founder Alan Green was quoted as saying, "The availability of software for booksellers that is both free, full-featured, and Mac and Windows compatible has always been limited; we're happy that Biblio.com can see to it that our product reaches anyone who needs it in the bookselling community."
In June, the partners made the software available to Apple computer users, a small though often more technology savvy part of the market, as something of a test run. While the percentage of booksellers who use the Apple operating system is unknown, overall their market share is somewhere in the vicinity of 5%, leaving most of the rest to Microsoft and its Windows operating system. Available now are versions of BookHound that will work with both Windows XP and Vista, along with Apple's OS X.
Biblio indicated it was quite pleased with the reaction of Apple users to the offer. They said that there have been "several hundred" downloads of this version already. Biblio estimated that it may have been downloaded by as many as 30% of the bookstores who use the Apple operating system, a number that sounds to us a bit ambitious, but they do appear to be off to a good start. Biblio is expecting similar results with the Windows version, with their CEO Brendan Sherar predicting, "Seeing BookHound 7ce reach an overall market saturation of 40% by year's end is quite possible." Again this strikes us as ambitious with several other versions of bookselling and listing software available, both free and paid, including AbeBooks' free HomeBase. Apple users may have responded disproportionately to BookHound as HomeBase does not work with their computers. Nevertheless, this type of software is a virtual necessity for anyone in the book business, certainly the online book business today, so perhaps Biblio's expectations will be met.
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Fonsie Mealy’s Rare Books & Collectors’ Sale April 30th & May 1st
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Taylor (Geo.) & Skinner (A.) Maps of the Roads of Ireland, Surveyed 1777. Lond. & Dublin 1778. €500 to €750.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Messingham (Thos.) Florilegium Insulae Sanctorum seu Vitae et Acta Sanctorum Hibernia, Paris 1624. €350 to €500.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus). The Haw Lantern, L. (Faber & Faber) 1987, First Edn., Signed and dated. €225 to €350.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Valencey (Lt. Col. Chas.) Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, Vols. I-IV, 4 vols. Dublin 1786. €400 to €600.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Powerscourt (Viscount). A Description and History of Powerscourt, Lond. 1903. €350 to €500.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Moryson (Fynes). An Itinerary ... Containing His Ten Yeeres Travel Through the Twelve Dominions of Germany, Bohermerland, Sweitzerland…, Lond. (John Beale) 1617. €700 to €1,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: After Buffon, Birds of Europe, c. 1820. Approx. 120 fine hd. cold. plts., mor. backed boards. €125 to €250.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Dunlevy (Andrew). An Teagasg Criosduidhe De Reir Ceasda agus Freagartha... The Catechism or Christian Doctrine by Way of Question and Answer, Paris (James Guerin) 1742. €400 to €700.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1:The Georgian Society Records of Eighteen-Century Domestic Architecture in Dublin, 5 vols. Complete, Dublin 1909-1913. €500 to €750.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Scale (Bernard). An Hibernian Atlas or General Description of the Kingdom of Ireland, L. (Robert Sayer & John Bennet) 1776. €625 to €850.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: [Johnson (Rev. Samuel)]. Julian the Apostate Being a Short Account of his Life, together with a Comparison of Popery and Paganism,L. (Langley Curtis) 1682. €300 to €400.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Nichlson (Wm.) Illustrator. An Almanac of Twelve Sports, Lond. 1898. €300 to €400.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Heaney (Seamus) trans. The Light of the Leaves, 2 vols., Mexico (Imprenta de los Tropicos/Bunholt) 1999. €1,500 to €2,000.
Fonsie Mealy’s, Apr 30-May 1: Fleming (Ian). Moonraker, L. (Jonathan Cape) 1955. €1,500 to €2,000.