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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;kaparthy, post: 1801680, member: 57463&quot;]Your local library is your gateway to a world of resources.&nbsp; Too often, collectors go to their local library and say that they have nothing, maybe some old Red Books.&nbsp; In fact, your local librarian can get you just about any book you can find.&nbsp; It is called &quot;Interlibrary Loan&quot; and <b>ILL</b> is a buzzword for librarians like &quot;Mint State&quot; or &quot;Variety&quot; for collectors.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>One of my buddies from college became a State Librarian and he published a funny article about people who were afraid to approach the Librarian as if they were coming to a church confessional.&nbsp; Ask!&nbsp; They live for that moment.&nbsp; They want to help.</p><p><br /></p><p>Check out your State University Library.&nbsp; You can <b>use</b> it, even if you cannot check out books.&nbsp; About 1000 years ago, I paid a $35 fee to be a &quot;community patron&quot; at the Michigan State University Library.&nbsp; Here in Austin, Texas, I needed to (1) have a City Library Card and (2) be a patron in good standing for (3) six months, in order to qualify for a (4) TexShare State Library card that entitled me to (5) a University of Texas Library Card.&nbsp; Now I have one.&nbsp; In addition to the numismatic resources here, I actually went there to place an ILL for a Hungarian rock-opera on DVD. They can get you anything...</p><p><br /></p><p>It so happens that my wife and I went back to university in 2005, and graduated in 2008; then I completed a master&#039;s in 2010.&nbsp;&nbsp; When I graduated from&nbsp; Eastern Michigan University, I lost most of my library privileges.&nbsp; However, here at UT Austin where I am a <b>lowly guest patron</b> I have the same privileges that I had when I was enrolled at EMU. </p><p><br /></p><p>The UT Libraries (plural) include both the general main campus library at the Perry-Castenada Building, and also several special collections, including the Classics Department Library, which has a nice run of books on ancient Greek and Roman coins.&nbsp; Today, I was at the Main Library.&nbsp; I checked out <i>Zecca: the Mint of Venice in the Middle Ages</i> by Alan Stahl.&nbsp; Of course, they have the usual run of US coin books, including two copies of the Breen Encyclopedia.&nbsp; They also have the current Krause <i>Standard Catalog of World Coinage</i> (three volumes), and Douglas Winter&#039;s books on the coins of Charlotte Mint and the New Orleans Mint, and much more.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>You probably never heard of John Leonard Riddell, but he was the Chief Assayer at the New Orleans Mint (1838-1849).&nbsp; The UT Libraries have several rare original editions of his books because he carried out a geographical survey of east-central Texas in 1838.&nbsp; I had to sign up, and even be searched (no kidding), and I might have been required to wear cotton gloves (but was not).&nbsp; But the bottom line is that I was able to carry out important numismatic research.</p><p><br /></p><p>It does not matter if you live in a city of 3 million or a village of 3,000.&nbsp; Your library is perhaps the single most important resource you can imagine, for numismatics and for light years beyond.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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