# Best web sites for identifying books, movies, etc.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-web-sites-for-identifying-books-movies-etc/305879>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [May 28, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-web-sites-for-identifying-books-movies-etc/305879 "2005-05-28T14:58:15Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Selkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@Selkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Selkie)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-web-sites-for-identifying-books-movies-etc/305879/1 "2005-05-28T14:58:15Z")

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(besides the Dope, of course).

We’ve all been there, trying to identify a book (or movie, or whatever) from vague recollections many years old. What are the best dedicated, or semi-dedicated, free sites available for this purpose?

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**Author:** ![Lsura](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Lsura](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lsura)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-web-sites-for-identifying-books-movies-etc/305879/2 "2005-05-28T17:06:45Z")

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For books, I prefer BookSleuth over on [Abebooks.com](http://www.abebooks.com).

I know other people prefer Loganberry for that - but Abebooks is free and I like the format better.

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**Author:** ![Electronic\_Chaos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Electronic\_Chaos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electronic_Chaos)\
**Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-web-sites-for-identifying-books-movies-etc/305879/3 "2005-05-28T17:16:02Z")

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[IMDB](http://www.imdb.com) has a feature where you can search by plot, if that’s all you remember. It’s helped me a couple times.

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**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\
**Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-web-sites-for-identifying-books-movies-etc/305879/4 "2005-05-29T23:58:52Z")

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IMDB also has a message board with a forum called [I Need to Know](http://us.imdb.com/board/bd0000001/threads/). It is designed especially for posting those fragmented memories, and having the experts offer suggestions for what they might be.

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**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\
**Post date:** [May 30, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-web-sites-for-identifying-books-movies-etc/305879/5 "2005-05-30T01:04:17Z")

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I never miss a chance to plug this website. It’s primarily for children’s books, but I’ve also seen adult works on it. My sister and I have located several books with their help, and I ID’d one myself. There’s a small fee to post a book your’e looking for, but when you’ve racked your brain to no avail, this site is a wonder.

[http://www.logan.com/loganberry/stump.html](http://www.logan.com/loganberry/stump.html)