Old electronic data books

[Noone]

Moving to a new office. So the 15 years of accumulated treasure must be
sorted and packed.

I am at a loss about what to do with 56+ boxes of old electronic data
books. Some of these go way back. Nearly all are pre CD era. Full
sets of Intel, Motorola, TI, National, (even a 1972 analog applicatons
book), Philips. Many shelves worth of smaller company products. Then
there is a nearly equal number of hardcover technical books, but those
stay. And a full collection of Byte magazines: #1 to end.

Then there is my 1 year rule: If you haven't used it in a year then get
rid of it. (albeit with a one time 1 year reprieve). Applying this
rule, then nearly everything goes. But they have lived in a very
comprehensive library for a long time And that is the purpose of a
library. So I am torn: Pitch or Keep.

Or can I find a good home for these somewhere? They are incredibly
useful when working on/restoring older equipment. They would be a good
addition to a technical museum somewhere. Shipping costs would be high
however. Anyone with any experience moving these on eBay?

Ideas, suggestions encouraged.

Blakely

 

[Rich Webb]

Moving to a new office. So the 15 years of accumulated treasure must be
sorted and packed.

I am at a loss about what to do with 56+ boxes of old electronic data
books. Some of these go way back. Nearly all are pre CD era. Full
sets of Intel, Motorola, TI, National, (even a 1972 analog applicatons
book), Philips. Many shelves worth of smaller company products. Then
there is a nearly equal number of hardcover technical books, but those
stay. And a full collection of Byte magazines: #1 to end.

Then there is my 1 year rule: If you haven't used it in a year then get
rid of it. (albeit with a one time 1 year reprieve). Applying this
rule, then nearly everything goes. But they have lived in a very
comprehensive library for a long time And that is the purpose of a
library. So I am torn: Pitch or Keep.

Or can I find a good home for these somewhere? They are incredibly
useful when working on/restoring older equipment. They would be a good
addition to a technical museum somewhere. Shipping costs would be high
however. Anyone with any experience moving these on eBay?

Ideas, suggestions encouraged.

Donate them to a university/college/tech-school library? As part of the
deal, they might be willing to spring for a professional appraisal (for
tax purposes).

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

Moving to a new office. So the 15 years of accumulated treasure must be
sorted and packed.

Since your new office is bound to be vastly larger, you don't really
*need* to throw anything out, right? ;-)

I am at a loss about what to do with 56+ boxes of old electronic data
books. Some of these go way back. Nearly all are pre CD era. Full
sets of Intel, Motorola, TI, National, (even a 1972 analog applicatons
book), Philips. Many shelves worth of smaller company products. Then
there is a nearly equal number of hardcover technical books, but those
stay. And a full collection of Byte magazines: #1 to end.

Then there is my 1 year rule: If you haven't used it in a year then get
rid of it. (albeit with a one time 1 year reprieve). Applying this
rule, then nearly everything goes.

I do it a bit differently. After I have not used a book in a year or
two it leaves the office and goes to the "stacks", where space will
never be an issue. Most periodicals are dumped after a few months. A
few* are kept. Real non-fiction books seldom get thrown out unless
they are dedicated to some particular software application etc.

But they have lived in a very
comprehensive library for a long time And that is the purpose of a
library. So I am torn: Pitch or Keep.

Take a careful look at application notes and detailed data sheets for
the pre-internet era before dumping them all. After about 1995 or so,
nothing much of that sort is worth keeping, but much of the early
stuff may never be put in electronic form, and much of it is still
relevant, albeit perhaps requiring an update to more modern parts.

Obsolete books filled with run-of-the-mill chips and ASICs from
defunct companies are probably the least useful to you, though someone
in need of them might be desperate.

Or can I find a good home for these somewhere? They are incredibly
useful when working on/restoring older equipment. They would be a good
addition to a technical museum somewhere. Shipping costs would be high
however. Anyone with any experience moving these on eBay?

Shipping costs would probably dissuade most buyers, but check
completed auctions to see. Maybe there are companies who will buy the
stuff to scan and sell the information to others.

OTOH, those Byte magazines are probably worth something!

Ideas, suggestions encouraged.

Blakely

* Circuit Cellar, Dr. Dobbs (only issues of those two that I buy at
the newstand), Foreign Affairs (subscription), recent directory issues
of about a dozen trade magazines etc.


Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany

 

[mw]

Moving to a new office. So the 15 years of accumulated treasure must be
sorted and packed.

I am at a loss about what to do with 56+ boxes of old electronic data
books. Some of these go way back. Nearly all are pre CD era. Full
sets of Intel, Motorola, TI, National, (even a 1972 analog applicatons
book), Philips. Many shelves worth of smaller company products. Then
there is a nearly equal number of hardcover technical books, but those
stay. And a full collection of Byte magazines: #1 to end.

Rent a table at the next big hamfest... $15 or so. Visit with all the
old timers that walk by and ex-co-workers you haven't seen in years.
Maybe even sell a few of the books...

 

[mc]

Consult a nearby library for advice on how to sell the complete set of Byte.
It's something a college library would surely like to have.

Some of the old National manuals (especially the linear IC manual of the
late 1970s and the linear applications handbook) are worth KEEPING or
selling. Those chips (555, 741, 7805, LM386, etc.) are classics still in
use.

 

[mc]

BTW, if I had to guess, a full set of Byte, in good condition, is probably
worth $500.

 

[me]

I am at a loss about what to do with 56+ boxes of old electronic data

books. Some of these go way back. Nearly all are pre CD era. Full
sets of Intel, Motorola, TI, National, (even a 1972 analog applicatons
book), Philips. Many shelves worth of smaller company products. Then
there is a nearly equal number of hardcover technical books, but those
stay. And a full collection of Byte magazines: #1 to end.

Then there is my 1 year rule: If you haven't used it in a year then get
rid of it. (albeit with a one time 1 year reprieve). Applying this
rule, then nearly everything goes. But they have lived in a very
comprehensive library for a long time And that is the purpose of a
library. So I am torn: Pitch or Keep.

Or can I find a good home for these somewhere? They are incredibly
useful when working on/restoring older equipment. They would be a good
addition to a technical museum somewhere. Shipping costs would be high
however. Anyone with any experience moving these on eBay?

Ideas, suggestions encouraged.

Blakely

off hand, BS and FO. Shut up and stuff it all in boxes or offer it
outright somewhere.

 

[Wim Ton]

Moving to a new office. So the 15 years of accumulated treasure must be
sorted and packed.

I am at a loss about what to do with 56+ boxes of old electronic data SNIP

Or can I find a good home for these somewhere? They are incredibly
useful when working on/restoring older equipment. They would be a good
addition to a technical museum somewhere. Shipping costs would be high
however. Anyone with any experience moving these on eBay?

I sold several old databooks on eBay. You wont get an awful lot of money for
them (about $5), but it feels good that can help out some people with them.

Wim

 

[Dave]

Moving to a new office. So the 15 years of accumulated treasure must be
sorted and packed.

I am at a loss about what to do with 56+ boxes of old electronic data
books. Some of these go way back. Nearly all are pre CD era. Full
sets of Intel, Motorola, TI, National, (even a 1972 analog applicatons
book), Philips. Many shelves worth of smaller company products. Then
there is a nearly equal number of hardcover technical books, but those
stay. And a full collection of Byte magazines: #1 to end.

You could try a VERY different sort of eBay auction, something like this:

Buy-it-now $10
Quantity available 100.

"I have a load of manuals, application notes, catalogues etc, too
numerous to list individually and too expensive to ship. If however you
need something, such as an old catalog, data sheet, contact me by email
and I'll search to see if I have what you want. If I do, you "buy it
now" on eBay and I'll ship it. If I don't, then you there is no need to
"buy it now".

That way

1) You don't have to bother listing everything - just general terms.
2) People don't end up with as much junk as you.
3) Shipping is only paid on what people actually want.
4) You toss whatever nobody wants.

How is that for an idea????

You could add an entry at

http://www.drkirkby.co.uk/community/test-equipment/index.shtml

but only if you willing to give away the items, not if you wish to sell
them. Or take a look at the list of things people want.

I run that site, and whilst it is not normally the aim, in this case I
will allow such a listing.

 

[Ben Bradley]

4) You toss whatever nobody wants.

If you have to 'toss' anything, at least donate it to the nearest
thrift store, who will sell paperbacks for $0.25 and hardbacks for $1
or so, to scroungers like me. It's where I get all my copies of
"Spring Designer's Handbook" (okay, I've only had one copy) and other
such esoteric books, and sell them on amazon.com for what the market
will bear.
The earlier National app note book(s) (at least the one with a lot
of Bob Pease articles in it) it was reprinted by Old Colony a few
years back.
Towards the end, what I saw of Byte was much like any other
consumer computer magazine, but the first 10-15 years should really be
worth something to someone.

It's inevitable that someone will need to look at an old design,
and need an old data sheet on an obsolete part by an out-of-business
manufacturer. I'm sure there are many copies of these out there, but
still, they're hard to find - they're on an office shelf like yours,
or in a box in a warehouse, as opposed to in booksellers' inventories
easily searchable from a site such as bookfinder.com.

 

[[email protected]]

I am at a loss about what to do with 56+ boxes of old electronic data
books.

I was in the local used bookstore the other day and they had a
surprising number of miscellaneous older data books lurking around the
electrical engineering shelf. I would assume they don't pay much for
these - they're not like popular novels with a price on the cover that
they can offer half of, or whatever. You might check with the used
bookstores in your area.

Shipping costs would be high however.

In the US, you might be able to do media mail, what used to be called
book rate, which is reasonably cheap.

Matt Roberds

 

[Noone]

I was in the local used bookstore the other day and they had a
surprising number of miscellaneous older data books lurking around the
electrical engineering shelf. I would assume they don't pay much for
these - they're not like popular novels with a price on the cover that
they can offer half of, or whatever. You might check with the used
bookstores in your area.


In the US, you might be able to do media mail, what used to be called
book rate, which is reasonably cheap.

Matt Roberds

Thanks to all who replied. The books will make the move. Then their
fate will be determined. Too much futzing around to sell, either all or
in pieces. We will offer them to the local technical college and/or
University. My bet is on the techies. I suspect this stuff is much too
practical for the University.

Blakely

 

[Doug]

Could take them to your local Good will and ask them to put them on
their book site.
Maybe you could use the deduction.
http://www.goodwillbooks.com/
Doug