Dusseldorf - German second-hand book-dealers hailed Tuesday the creation of a joint internet portal to help book buyers dig up rare books in five European nations. The www.marelibri.com portal, which is already up and running, serves results from five bookseller-run web search services, including Milan-based site Maremagnum.com.
In all, the site lists 20 million books from 2,000 participating bookstores.
It was set up last year by booksellers who oppose Canadian-based Abebooks and other worldwide second-hand books sites.
"Unlike other second-hand book websites, our members have broad voting control of this," said Christoph Schaefer, a Dusseldorf book dealer and head of GIAQ, an association of 200 German shops that have joined in the project. "We don't want to depend on anonymous investors."
Dealers in France, the Netherlands and Spain are also involved in the joint project.
