(1)------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2001 14:28:05 -0500
From: Doug Litts (VA Museum of Fine Arts) <Dlitts_at_vmfa.state.va.us>
Subject: RE: the Gille List
As former chair of the ALA ALCTS Publisher/Vendor/Library Relations
Committee, I can give you a very brief history of the Gilles list
which used to be compiled by this committee.
In pre-listserv days of yore, the only way librarians were able to
effectively warn each other about shady publisher practices was
through compiling lists for distribution to each other. The Gilles (Frank
and Michael) apparently were the most egregious of offenders with many
fake publishing houses. They would offer books that required the library
to prepay, and then would either never send the publication or send a
book of such low caliber that it was worthy of only the dump-heap. Hence in
the late 1970s the Gilles list was formed first to alert librarians to all
the different Gilles aliases. The list was later expanded to include
other questionable publishers and eventually the name was changed to the
"Caveat Emptor" list.
The last update of the list that I have on record appeared in 1993.
On the advice of ALA lawyers, the PVLR committee no longer generates a copy
of the list due to potential litigation liabilities. Fortunately, there are
electronic means to get the word out if one suspects sharp practices.
I hope this answers your question.
Doug
****************************************************************
Douglas A. Litts, Assistant Librarian,
Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond, VA
804-340-1496
dlitts_at_vmfa.state.va.us
(2)-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Mon, 03 Dec 2001 16:01:39 -0500
From: Trisha L. Davis (Ohio State U.) <davis.115_at_osu.edu>
Subject: RE: the Gille List
ALA ALCTS Publisher-Vendor Library Relations Committee no longer
maintains such a list of information. The original documents were destroyed in
the mid-90s upon advice from the ALA lawyers. At that time, we asked
everyone with a copy of the list to destroy it. The information could
not be verified as correct and should not be redistributed in any format.
-- Trisha Davis
**************************************************************************
Trisha L. Davis, Associate Professor
Head, Serials & Electronic Resources Dept
The Ohio State University Libraries Phone: (614) 292-6314
1848 Neil Avenue Mall 040N Fax: (614) 292-2015
Columbus, OH 43210-1286 Email:
davis.115_at_osu.edu
**************************************************************************
(3)---------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Wed, 05 Dec 2001 18:59:53 -0500
From: Peter Stevens (Univ. of WA) <stevens_at_u.washington.edu>
Subject: RE: the Gille List
Back in the 1970s and 1980s, Frank Gille and his son Michael
advertised and received payment for very expensive reference sets at very
attractive prepublication discounts to more than 1,000 libraries in North
America. They operated under dozens of different company names in Michigan,
Illinois, California, Washington, D.C., and New York. In some cases,
one or a few volumes of these reference works were published; in other
cases, no volumes were published. Libraries did not receive refunds for
materials not received. The reference sets comprised 190 volumes but
only seven volumes ever appeared.
The American Library Association's Resources and Technical Services
Division provided a list of publishing imprints that some library book
vendors, like Midwest Library Services, made available to the library
community. Unfortunately, libraries continued for many years to make
prepayments for such reference works without ever receiving any
materials.
The attorney generals in six states investigated many of these cases.
Articles about the Gilles appeared in the _Wilson Library Bulletin_ in
May 1977 and in _College and Research Library News_, in volume 41, number
8 (though _College and Research Libraries_ accepted ads for the reference
works from Gille). The _RTSD Newsletter_ warned libraries about
Gille in their November/December 1980 issue. ALA encouraged libraries to
remain alert to prepayment fraud by issuing guidelines in the November 1977
issue of _American Libraries_. ALA considered a class action suit against
the Gilles but appear not to have filed. _American Libraries_ noted, in
January 1981, that Frank Gille pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud in
November 1980, having collected $1.4 million from libraries since 1972.
--Peter
(4)-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Fri, 07 Dec 2001 10:53:27 -0500
From: Marcia Kingsley (W. Mich. U.) <marcia.kingsley_at_wmich.edu>
Subject: Gille publishing ventures
I hope that some of you knowledgeable colleagues will keep us up to
date on Somerset Publishers, the Gille family, and the publishing
"empire" that still seems to be based in St. Clair Shores, Michigan,
with additional activity in Santa Barbara. We all appreciate being
kept aware of any current shady publishing practices, but this also
seems to be a fascinating chapter in American publishing. Eleanor
Cook promised to let us know what is in the ACQNET archives when
they're available again, and perhaps others of you have turned up
information.
What I remember (from the '70's, groan) was that Frank and Michael
Gille published under many different press names. Many had St.
Clair, MI, or various California addresses. The problem was that
they advertised wonderful-sounding multi-volume reference works,
required pre-payment for the sets, but then would only publish a
volume or two of the set. At a time when ethnic studies were really
beginning to expand, who could resist ordering World Encyclopedia of
Black Peoples? I see in our local catalog the MARC record gives a
publication date of "1975 - " but alas we still have only volume 1!
They published monographs as well as reference works. I assume there
were pre-payment fulfillment problems with monographs as well as
encyclopedic works.
It took a while for librarians and the law to figure out what was
happening. Some of the publisher names they used in the '70's were
Academic Booksellers, Bibliography Press, Library Reference Books,
Scholarly Publishing, Somerset Publishers... In 1982 and 1988, ALA
Publisher/Vendor-Library Relations Committee compiled a list of the
60 or so press names, so maybe that's why this library seems to have
avoided the Gilles in the 1980's. We still have a copy of the '88
list. I think this list was considered unofficial because of
potential liability problems.
A search of our local catalog gives a pretty good snapshot. A
keyword search of "St. Clair Shores" brings up well over a hundred
titles, almost all in the 1970's but a few in the late '90's. Every
title I spot checked was published by Somerset, Scholarly, etc.
Again the recent ones sound like must-haves for a Michigan library -
Michigan Biographical Dictionary, Encyclopedia of Michigan,
Encyclopedia of Michigan Libraries; I assume there are equivalent
titles for most states. These are 2-vol. sets and are complete, but
I can see that these three carry duplicate information and also much
that looks fresh from free government publications. And - uh-oh - I
see we have a 2000 edition on order for one of them; since the
previous edition just came out in '98, I suspect there's little new
in the later one. Some of the recent titles carry the names of Frank
Gille and also Thomas H. Gille as editors. (Of the 3 people most
involved, I believe there is a father-son combination plus a brother
of one of them).
So far I haven't turned up anything on the Gilles in online indexes
(Library Lit, Lexis-Nexis, Reader's Guide), but I will dig deeper
and also get into the print indexes. I have a vague recollection
that one or more of the Gilles served jail time for their business
practices, but that may be apocryphal.
Thanks to Postal Inspector Harden and Karen Muller at ALA for
sounding the alert.
Marcie Kingsley
Head, Library Acquisitions and Serial Resources
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, MI 49008
kingsley_at_wmich.edu
616 387-5147 (Fax: -5193)
Received on Sat Dec 08 2001 - 14:40:26 EST