If you have an ILLiad account, all your information needs to be current, including your mailing and email addresses, phone number, and your WVUID (aka, 700 number). Providing current information guarantees that you will receive your interlibrary loan requests in the quickest time possible. So logon now.

If you’ve never used ILLiad, now may be the time for you to logon and register as a First Time ILLiad User. Interlibrary Loan can provide you with books and articles from journals that are not owned by the WVU Libraries. The Interlibrary Loan staff is able to get items from anywhere in the region or around the world. In the past, materials have arrived from as far away as Australia and China.

Let Interlibrary Loan help you meet your research needs!

-Hilary Fredette

She joined a crowd of more than 60 people standing in line at the Charles C. Wise Library to have their books appraised by Walsdorf, who returned to Morgantown on Sunday with his Book Lovers’ Road Show.

Whitaker enjoyed the afternoon, even though Walsdorf failed to assess either of her books as unearthed treasures.

“I just thought it would be interesting to see what really constitutes the value of a book and what detracts from making one valuable,” Whitaker said. “Maybe I can get some knowledge in case I want to try my hand at it.”

Everyone seemed to share that same sentiment.

“We’ve been to other library events, and we thought this was a unique opportunity to learn something different,” said Dr. James Shumway, who brought a book founding father John Adams wrote on the Constitution.

“As academics, we have a lot of books and we enjoy books, but most of us are not familiar with collecting books,” Shumway said.

Larry Jackson and his son, Bret, came armed with two books each and a desire to gain better insight about collecting.

Bret Jackson handed Walsdorf a four-volume French dictionary and a 17th century Latin Virgil book. He found it interesting how much information can be gleaned simply by examining a book’s cover.

“I think it would be fun to learn more about different printing,” he said.

Whitaker also gained some useful keys during Walsdorf’s talk. While she knew the condition of a book is important, she didn’t know the impact a dust jacket has on the value of a book. She plans to put the knowledge to work at book sales and rummage sales she visits.

Walsdorf is a fan of both.

He advises book collectors to invest time into digging through stacks of hardbacks at second-hand stores and yard sales. As for the online sites, Walsdorf recommends people do their research before making a purchase.

The two most important tools are persistence and knowledge about the books an individual is hunting. Both have helped Walsdorf fill his home with at least 7,000 books, 1,000 of which are signed first editions.

Also in Walsdorf’s favor is about three decades in the bookselling field, a Masters of Library Science from the University of Wisconsin, and 15 titles about the history of printing he has either authored or edited.

This visit was Walsdorf’s second stop in Morgantown.

Two years ago, about 65 people gathered to have books appraised. The most valuable selection brought in for appraisal was copy of the first account of Lewis and Clark’s westward expedition, valued at $125,000.

A common thread between both events was Edger Allen Poe. Last time, someone had a copy of The Raven. This time, it was a pamphlet written by Poe. While Walsdorf couldn’t attach an exact dollar amount to the piece, he valued it in the thousands.

Some of the most unique finds this year were two miniature books: a biography of President Calvin Coolidge and President George Washington’s farewell address. The books’ covers measured less than 1 inch by ½ inch. Walsdorf appraised them at several hundred each.

The event, in Libraries Dean Frances O’Brien’s book, was a success.

“Again, Jack gave the audience a wonderful Road Show. I’m always amazed at his knowledge of books,” O’Brien said. “Of course, we must also applaud the people who shared all those fascinating books. Morgantown is definitely home to lots of book lovers.”

By Mary Helen Hinchliffe
The Dominion Post

Cliff Bishop waited anxiously in the WVU Downtown Library Complex with several books in hand to determine if he was holding a collector’s treasure.

Bishop, along with his wife, Sara, and son, Caldwell, 17, were among more than 60 collectors who attended the Book Lovers’ Roadshow on Sunday at the Charles C. Wise, Jr. Library, featuring Jack Walsdorf, an antiquarian book appraiser and collector.

The family, which has several hundred books in their collection, hoped to find out more information about and the value of their books from Walsdorf.

“The main reason for coming is to find out about the books, but also for (Jack’s) views on what condition they’re in and whether or not they would be worth restoring,” Bishop said. “For me it’s intriguing to read the books and wonder about the individuals that have previously owned them.”

During the event, hosted by Friends of the WVU Libraries, Walsdorf educated attending bibliophiles on several topics, including book collecting, finding a book’s value and how to care for books.

“I tell people sort of trade secrets of how to recognize a good book versus a book club book,” he said. “I see the pleasure they get in learning about their book.”

Walsdorf is the author/editor of 15 books relating to the history of printing and bibliography, and has more than 30 years of book selling and collecting experience.

During his visits across the country he appraises a wide spectrum of books from the very rare to the very common. Walsdorf created the Book Lovers’ Roadshow after retiring at the age of 58. Now 64, he began lecturing in libraries about book collecting. It was during a lecture at the University of New Hampshire that he first came up with the idea to help people in appraising their collections.

“Most people think this was a rip off from the Antique Roadshow,” he said. “In fact it was pure serendipity that the library director asked her staff to bring some books to show me that they had collected.”

During a previous visit to WVU Libraries in 2003, Walsdorf appraised a first print of a two-volume journal of the Captain Lewis and Clark expedition held by a local resident. The books were valued at more than $100,000.

However, Walsdorf cautions book buyers against assuming that the older the book, the more valuable it is.

“There is virtually no correlation between age and value,” he said. “In fact one of the most valuable books, a modern book, is the first edition of the first Harry Potter book published in the U.K.”

Many factors are involved with appraising a book, including its subject matter, condition, edition and author.

However, for Walsdorf the value of a book goes beyond what it is worth in dollars.

“Only with knowledge do you know if the book might be valuable, not purely in a monetary way, but in a scholarship way,” he said. “It might add to the value of the university library, for example, by your donating it. Reading and books are one of the wonderful ways to gain a whole new perspective on things.”

~ Mountaineer Spirit July 28, 2005

Why aren’t there disk drives in the new library computers?

Floppy disks are obsolete. Diskette drives don’t come standard on computers anymore. This change is for the better, since these computers are new, they reflect this market/technology change. The libraries would not want to waste the students’ technology money on purchasing obsolete equipment (floppy drives).

Thumb drives are the new, more reliable version of a floppy. They hold nearly 50 to 100 small discs worth of memory. The library has a workstation with a floppy drive dedicated to transferring files for those who only have their work on a floppy. The library will help students make the transition by providing access to that computer and CDs if they are needed.

Librarians report that floppy disks were notoriously unreliable and that they saw many cases of lost data causing students to despair. One highly recommended way to keep files is to save them on the hard drive of the computer and email them to yourself as an attachment. This is free and provides access to the latest copy of a file anywhere you have access to your email account. Students have 20 megabytes of storage as part of their MIX email – plenty of space to send and save files.