Q: converting appleworks

If you really mean AppleWorks (and not iWork) then you must open them in iWork '08 or '09.  Save them in iWork '09.  Then you will be able to open them with the version of Pages and Numbers that Mavericks uses.

(I found that I had to open first with iWork '08, but someone else was able to open them directly with iWork '09, so try that first.  If you do have to open with '08, then you will need to save them, then open them with '09 before they will be openable with Mavericks versions of things.)

• Word Processing documents can be opened directly in Pages 4 (AppleWorks 6 only) but this is no longer available - the new Pages 5 (Mavericks required) does not open AppleWorks documents. Panergy Software's docXConverter v3.2 ($19.95) can convert Appleworks 5 and 6 Word Processing documents to RTF (though it has been reported that it can only handle documents which contain only text, not those which include images or frames). The latest version of the free LibreOffice has announced that it can open AppleWorks 6 Word Processing documents and an ability to open ClarisWorks documents has been reported: it does appear to be able to handle at least some embedded images.

• Draw Documents can be opened directly only in EazyDraw (the more expensive version from their website, not the cheaper one from the Mac App Store, and you will need v4.0 'Retro' not the most recent version) or Intaglio (though this appears not to be able to handle very complex drawings). LibreOffice will open simple Draw documents but I found it very unreliable with complex ones.

• Spreadsheets can be opened directly only in the older versions of  Numbers - the new version for Mavericks will not do this. The old version is no longer available.

• Presentations can be opened directly only in the older versions Keynote; again, the new version for Mavericks will not do this. The old version is no longer available.

To use other programs, or open Paint or Database documents at all, you must export from AppleWorks first.

More information in this article: http://rfwilmut.net/aw

the old version of Numbers and Keynote are still available.

Some people have gone to Apple and been given them for free.

Other people talk about being able to buy them on Amazon or eBay.

That is if lazydazy does not still have them.  When you install Mavericks you should still have iWork '09 in a folder within Applications.  If it is a new machine, then if you bought iWork'09 via the App Store you should be able to redownload it.  Otherwise you may have an install disk.

The old versions aren't available to buy from Apple; apparently some people have managed to talk Apple into giving them copies, presumably because they had already bought it and had lost theirs. As you say, the old versions aren't deleted if you already have them, though some people have found complications with having both versions on their Mac. The boxed disk set may be available from Amazon or independent retailers for those who are starting from scratch.