trying to find a science fiction book I read in the mid 80's, dont
remember the title or author, do remember the content, how do I find
the book?

Hi ivoarcher,

First of all, I hope you have lots of patience and perseverance!  

1. Probably the first thing to do is join SciFi groups and link up
with a bunch of knowledgeable science fiction readers - someone will
probably recognize your story content. Here are some to get you
started (no particular order):

SF-Lovers
http://www.sflovers.org/

Google Groups: rec.arts.sf:
http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&group=rec.arts.sf

There seem to be Science Fiction lovers in the ether here willing to
help:
http://groups.google.com/groups?group=rec.arts.sf.misc

Yahoo Groups:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sciencefictiongroup/

SmartGroups:
http://www.smartgroups.com/group/findgroup.cfm?CID=165943

"Almost 6000 links to Science Fiction resources"
"Ultimate Science Fiction Web Guide":
http://www.magicdragon.com/UltimateSF/SF-Index.html

Science Fiction & fantasy Usenet postings archive:
http://sf.www.lysator.liu.se/sf_archive/sf_main.html

http://dmoz.org/Arts/Genres/Science_Fiction_and_Fantasy/

2. Next, try emailing some booksellers who specialize in SciFi - they
may recognize your story. Here's a good one:

Books from the Crypt
61 Timber Rock Rd.
Gaithersburg, Maryland
20878-2267, United States
Phone: 301-926-2095 emails preferred    
Email: orders@booksfromthecrypt.com
Website URL: http://www.booksfromthecrypt.com 

3. Go to a site which offers a SciFi catalogue for browsing and scan
the lists, perhaps you'll recognize the title:

http://www.tomfolio.com  "Your Corner Used Bookstore on the Internet"
http://tinyurl.com/2y8g  Science Fiction category at Tom for browsing.

4. Search the out-of-print sites using keywords. The more specific the
keyword you can come up with, the better. Without the title or author,
try to pick out something, such as the names of the characters. Is it
a space adventure? What planet did they go to? Any robots?  Creatures?
 Don't type in all of the keywords at once, choose one or two in
addition to "science fiction" or "scifi".

http://www.abebooks.com 
http://www.bookfinder.com 
http://used.addall.com/ 
http://www.bibliophile.net
http://www.bookavenue.com
http://www.choosebooks.com

Once you find the title and/or author, you can search for a copy for
sale at the above sites.

Internet Speculative Fiction DataBase:
http://www.sfsite.com/isfdb/

Alot of information here, but you might not remember enough to use it:
Pre 1984: Locus Index to Science Fiction Anthologies and Collections:
http://users.ev1.net/~homeville/isfac/0start.htm

Locus Index, 1984-1988:
http://www.locusmag.com/index/0start.html

Science Fiction Ego Archive:
http://www.totse.com/en/ego/science_fiction/index.html


I hope this answers your question - if you need clarification, please
get in touch before rating my answer. If you'd like to post what you
remember of the content, perhaps someone here will recognize it.

Good luck in your book search and have fun!
hummer

Search Strategy:
none used, just used our own resources.