Is there an internet database for books? I am thinking of something similar to IMDB, but for books. It would be nice to get a list of books by a particular author or involving a particular character.
The Library of Congress online catalog fits the bill, but I was wondering if there are any others.
What you’re looking for is Books in Print. Your local library has it. It comes in both CD-ROM and (voluminous) bound volumes sorted by author, title and subject.
Books in Print is very limited, because it only contains, well, books that are in print, a pitifully small fraction of the books that are out there. Even Amazon’s database will have many times more books. And the Library of Congress probably has many more times than that.
Copyeditor checking in. I often have to verify bibliographic information. I go to Library of Congress first, Amazon second. After that, Google to track down a particular author or book.
I use WorldCat, which is a product of OCLC, and unfortunately, restricted in access to licensed users. However, you may do as I do and access it through your local library, and if your library is set up for it, through an Internet connection to your library.
In other words, when I connect to the Cleveland Public Library online, all I have to do is use my library card number to access WorldCat.
What does WorldCat offer? To quote the description: “The world’s most comprehensive bibliography with 40 million bibliographic records representing 400 languages. Covers information back to the 11th Century. Includes holdings information from the world’s libraries.”
I would add:
Contains accession numbers for InterLibrary Loan
Contains records that are not even in Library of Congress
including:
Local library historical documents
Foreign library holdings
In short, if it ain’t here, it might not be anywhere.
Thanks everyone for the great info.
Now if only I could find a database that includes the 10th Century… 
The place I go to buy used books is
This is an index to a lot of used bookstores. I also go to find information. If I want to know when a book was first published, I can enter AUTHOR, TITLE, and click FIRST EDITION. There’s no promise that the book will be listed, but if it is, and the store also listed the year . . . bingo.