Resource: Using Amazon.com to Find Reference Books

I own a huge reference library on anything and everything to do with art, design, crafts, color, software (Photoshop, Illustrator, Painter, and others), and business (marketing, branding, promoting, publicity, licensing, etc.). The books in my library have given me inspiration for new art, taught me how to use different software techniques, understand art licensing, and learn good business practices. I continually search bookstores looking for new reference material but bookstores do have a limited number of books on subjects that I want. So the next best source is to use amazon.com. You can't flip through the books like you can when in a bookstore but amazon does give you the ability to look at selected pages for many of their books with their "click to LOOK INSIDE!" option. Also you can read customer reviews of the books.

As an example, I recently searched on the key words "pattern design" while in amazon.com and it pulled up 37,917 books on that subject. I looked down the list on the first page and found one called "Pattern Design - A Book For Students Treating In A Practical Way Of The Anatomy, Planning And Evolution Of Repeated Ornament (Hardcover)' with an uninspired brown cover. However, it had four stars and in reading the customer reviews I found out that three of the four persons loved the book even though it was originally printed in 1903 and is in black and white. And in using the LOOK INSIDE! option, I liked what I saw so I added it to my cart so that I can purchase it the next time I order from amazon. Amazon.com is a great source in finding and reviewing books!