-----Original Message-----
From: Next generation catalogs for libraries [mailto:NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU] On Behalf Of James Weinheimer
Sent: Saturday, May 26, 2012 11:37 AM
To: NGC4LIB_at_LISTSERV.ND.EDU
Subject: Re: [NGC4LIB] cover image and amazon
[...] there will be multiple places where libraries will see their metadata being used, including sites that will, in traditional terms, be considered very strange, if not unethical in traditional terms. Already, there are links from the catalog record to where someone can buy that item. Those would have been banished by librarians 20 years ago. The questions are natural: if someone finds a book in Worldcat and ends up buying a book on amazon, does Worldcat get paid for it? If not, why not? I mean, should it only be a one way street--shouldn't the person hawking the product get something? Or should the seller get it all? And what of the actual library, and the cataloger(s), who created the record in the first place? They made it all possible. Shouldn't they get a piece of the action?
[...]
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Actually, 15 or 20 years ago public libraries were actually discussing the ethics of placing a bookseller's link in the catalog record and becoming "partners" with that vendor by sharing a percentage of the sales. It was the next big thing for a while and embraced by more than a few librarians. I don't think ethics prevailed. I think poor sales commissions are responsible for the demise of such practices.
Michael Mitchell
Technical Services Librarian
Brazosport College
Lake Jackson, TX
Michael.mitchell at brazosport.edu
Received on Tue May 29 2012 - 21:30:51 EDT