The WIP travels with an arsenal of bibliographical tools to ensure accuracy and thoroughness. Each is applied to a variety of imprint characteristics and has a specific function.

• Notebook Computer - The most important tool used by the project has been the computer into which the data is entered, stored, manipulated, and referenced. All the project's relevant correspondence, research, and report generation has been executed and stored on this machine with regular backups being produced and placed in various locations for safety and integrity. Electronic mail and access to the Internet has been provided through a high-speed modem donated to the project and has greatly enhanced the program.

• Ruler, thickness gauge, and dial caliper - These tools are used to measure lengths and thicknesses to the nearest tenth of a millimeter.

• 35mm Camera - Some copies of imprints display attributes that are difficult to completely describe within the confines of a database. For example, original bindings often fall into this category and are particularly at risk of destruction due to many collections re-binding damaged books. In these cases detailed macro photography is done at institutions that allow it and these images become part of a separate collection directly related to the main database. As imaging technology improves, these photos will be integrated in a digital format with the database to allow direct access.

• Loupe with reticle - Used for measuring type and lettering on bindings, this optical device has proven invaluable. A loupe is commonly used to examine letters at 5X magnification, but the particular one used by the project has cross-hairs marked off in tenths of a millimeter for a full centimeter. It is also used to help evaluate paper chain-line densities.

• NoUVIR sheet - An abbreviation for No Ultra-Violet/Infra-Red, the NoUVIR illuminator has made several aspects of this project possible and safe to undertake in a special collections environment. Consisting of a fiber-optic cable with a .8 millimeter thick, 4 by 6 inch radiating pad and lighting unit, this instrument provides cool and non-damaging light for back illumination of paper. This type of light is vital to locating and studying watermarks and for performing many of the paper measurements required by the program.

• Munsell Color Chart - Recording the color of leather, marbled papers, endbands, and fore edges has been an important part of this program. This chart functions as one of the accepted standards among bibliographers and reference to it gives a much more specific idea of the colors used than any verbal or even photographic description. It is also applied to colored inks found in a few imprints and other characteristics as well.

• Graphite pencil and rubbing paper - Taking rubbings of the decorative tools found on bindings has been a long standing technique among bibliographers interested in binding description and identification. A similar technique can be used to record watermarks against plate glass. The pencil used in this method contains no wood as it is all graphite. This provides a much larger surface area than a typical pencil has and therefore reduces the risk of damage to sensitive bindings and paper.

• DYLUX paper and lighting - One of the more ambitious aspects of the WIP has been the collection of watermarks found in imprints. Few bibliographical projects have dealt with this important but tricky characteristic. When paper with a watermark is located in an imprint, the leaf is laid over a sheet of DYLUX paper which is then exposed to florescent light for several minutes. The DYLUX is then removed and exposed to ultra-violet light which develops the image of the watermark. The resulting image is then cataloged for later identification or reference.

• Mylar overlays - The recent introduction of clear mylar sheets capable of being fed through photocopiers has provided the project with a ground-breaking technique in type identification. Known foundry specimen sheets and imprints containing unknown types are photocopied onto these clear sheets resulting in overlays which can be easily and accurately compared in the field. Libraries made up of mylars of identified and yet-unidentified typefaces are carried into collections which provide quick recognition of known examples and references to unknown samples which will be named later.