One interesting thing that has come up numerous times in these first three days of class is the perspective of bookseller vs. librarian. Silver began in the first class by acknowledging the role of the antiquarian book trade in the production of the very reference works (bibliographies) that librarians rely on for their work. Just as a bookseller uses reference works to create an enticing and interesting description of a book in a catalog or in an online listing (“great for quotes” as Silver describes Brunet), so do we as reference librarians or curators use these works to explain to seminar attendee or exhibition guest why this particular book is so “special” (“most plagiarized book for exhibitions” as Silver described PMM).

Perhaps it is my background in general academic reference, but I had never so vividly highlighted in my mind the similarity of roles between the Public Services Librarian, as caretaker and interpreter of the worth and interest of the collections, and bookseller, as promoter of that worth for profit. Some might place the deciding hand with the book collector, who ultimately decides what something is worth by how much they are willing to pay. Enough has been said by Silver, though, with his perspective of having been in the antiquarian bookseller world, that would have me doubt somewhat the sincerity of some descriptions of works which might improperly inflate some prices.

Perhaps for many, these observations seem trite and naive. Still, I feel that for myself at least, when examining some reference works, and especially auction and sales descriptions, it pays to keep in mind the possibility of bias, both in which books are treated in more detail (Madan’s “degressive bibliography” in action, but perhaps not exactly in the way he had intended), and with the way in which they are structured or organized.