ACQNET v2n050 (April 14, 1992) URL = http://www.infomotions.com/serials/acqnet/acq-v2n050 ISSN: 1057-5308 *************** ACQNET, Vol. 2, No. 50, April 14, 1992 ====================================== (1) FROM: Christian SUBJECT: Who's new on ACQNET today (8 lines) (2) FROM: Christian SUBJECT: W.H. Everett (158 lines) (1) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: April 14, 1992 From: Christian Subject: Who's new on ACQNET today Tairu Larry Chen Journals Librarian Industrial Technology Research Institute (Taiwan) E-mail: AD30CTR0@ITRIB.ITRI.ORG.TW (2) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: April 14, 1992 From: Christian Subject: W.H. Everett Below are the texts of two letters. The first, from me to Colin Harrison, Chairman of W.H. Everett and Sons Ltd., a United Kingdom bookseller requests an explanation of how ACQNET postings came to be used in an Everett marketing campaign. The second, from Mr. Harrison, is Everett's response. THE FIRST LETTER: CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY ACQUISITIONS DEPARTMENT 110 OLIN LIBRARY ITHACA, NY 14853-5301 Phone: (607) 255-4969 Fax: (607) 255-9346 April 8, 1992 Mr. Colin G. Harrison Chairman W.H. Everett and Sons Ltd. 8 Hurlingham Business Park Sulivan Road London SW6 3DU Dear Colin, Richard Jasper, Acquisitions Librarian at Emory University, received a letter from you dated March 19, 1992, in which you introduced your firm and its services. Included with your letter was a one-page document with the title EXTRACTS FROM ACQNET ON EVERETTS NEW TITLE SERVICE. That document included two recent postings from ACQNET: the first, which appeared as item 5 in Vol. 2, No. 26, was a posting from Ned Kraft, Head of Monograph Order at the Smithsonian Institution Libraries. The second, item 7 in Vol. 2, No. 27, was from Karen Schmidt, Acquisitions Librarian at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. That document, which was accompanied by your letter and other items, was clearly part of a marketing strategy aimed at picking up additional customers in the U.S.A. I have since learned from other librarians that they have received similar packets from you. Your quoting of ACQNET in a document intended for a commercial purpose raises a number of questions in the mind of librarians in this country: 1. Did Mr. Kraft and Ms. Schmidt know that you were going to use their names in this manner? 2. Did I, as ACQNET Editor, authorize Everett to use ACQNET in marketing documents? Letter to C. Harrison, April 8, 1992, page 2 3. Would contributors to ACQNET feel as free to speak their minds if they knew that their words could be used by booksellers as part of advertising campaigns? In answer to the first two questions I have talked with Mr. Kraft and Ms. Schmidt and ascertained that you produced this document which quotes them having neither asked for their permission, nor, indeed, informed them in any way that you were planning to use their names. I can attest as well that you did not at any time make contact with me to ascertain whether ACQNET could be used as you did. Mr. Kraft told me that he objected very strongly to his name having been used in this manner. You will hear of Ms Schmidt's reaction directly from her. Although we recognize that you have no legal obligation to secure permission to use materials from ACQNET in your promotional materials, the Editorial Board and I nevertheless wish to express our strongest objections at your not having done so. With respect to the third question some of us fear that the openness and freedom which have characterized ACQNET postings, and given it much of its quality, are threatened by your action. We feel that this quality may decline if contributors become reluctant to comment because they fear being quoted out of context and without permission by booksellers. I must tell you that I shall have to inform the ACQNET readership of this situation and give it an opportunity to express its opinion on the subject. Accordingly, this letter, and any reply which you may choose to make, will be included in an issue of ACQNET which will be sent on April 14, 1992. You may fax your reply to me at (607) 255-9346. Sincerely, Christian M. Boissonnas Acquisitions Librarian and ACQNET Editor THE SECOND LETTER: W H Everett and Son Ltd. Telephone 071-731 8562 8 Hurlingham Business Park Telex 916011 EVERETT G Sulivan Road Fax 071-371 5870 London SW6 3DU Fax No. 0101 607 255 9346 International Booksellers and (1 page) Subscription Agents Established 1793 10 April 1992 Mr Christian M Boissonnas Acquisitions Librarian and ACQNET Editor Cornell University Library 110A Olin Library Ithaca, NY 14853-5301 Dear Christian I was of course dismayed to receive you fax letter of April 8th, and must start my response with a very sincere apology. What happened was that, as you surmise, we planned a mailing to a selected group of university libraries to go out over my signature. The content and the list were agreed but the letters not printed before I went on a long overseas trip. Meanwhile a friendly US vendor sent us the ACQNET items involved for our information. This was the first exposure to ACQNET for most people here, and someone was so excited at seeing our name in print that they thought it would be wonderful to add it to the mailing. This was done in all innocence, in the belief that we were merely drawing people's attention to what was not so much legally but actually in the public domain. Of course we were foolish not to recognise the implications for ACQNET as a vehicle for free exchange of information and opinions: and it was discour- teous of us not to consult Mr Kraft or Ms Schmidt; had we done so I am sure we would have been advised appropriately. We have already apologised to Mr Kraft and Ms Schmidt. We are in the process of apologising to the recipients of the mailing. I hope very very much that we have not jeopardised the scope and quality of ACQNET contributions. We won't do it again - please forgive a small foreign vendor. As we discussed last night, I would be grateful if you would let me know how to subscribe directly to ACQNET for the future. Yours sincerely Colin G Harrison Chairman ******* END OF FILE ****** ACQNET, Vol. 2, No. 50 ****** END OF FILE *******