[Publib] Advance Reader's Copies and Uncorrected Proofs

[DeBacher, John K. DPI]

I see a couple of problems with adding "advance reader's copies" to the
library collection:

1.	Assuming that these copies are linked in the catalog to
bibliographic records of the final, published works, the practice may be
somewhat disingenuous to library borrowers considering that the preliminary
copies do not necessarily correspond to the final published edition. In many
cases the bound proofs may be neither complete nor accurate. I have
encountered some "pre-pubs" where the work is fully paginated, bound in a
glossy, attractive cover, and even has a preliminary index, illustrations,
table of contents, etc; but in most cases the publisher has not made final
corrections. It may be tempting to add such copies that come to libraries as
donations. Such copies, bound as paperbacks with facsimiles of the dust
jacket graphics on the cover, may be difficult to tell from trade paperbacks
because they look so authentic. But if they bear an ISBN number, it
typically is the same as the hardcover edition, and often they state on the
back cover that they are "uncorrected page proofs" or "review copy." The
works may have misspellings, information that has not been fully
fact-checked, incomplete frontmatter, or other elements that were left to
the final publication by the editors. I think there are clear ethical
problems in presenting these materials to the public in lieu of published
copies. 

2.	The library may not have true rights to make the work available.
Generally speaking, there should be some sort of conveyance of ownership, or
of the owner's rights along with the work. If the book were published and
purchased by by the person who donates such a work to the library, those
rights are conveyed with the work (unless some sort of limitation of rights
or license conditions accompanied the work when originally purchased). In
the case of pre-publication review copies, the publisher has made an effort
to indicate that the work is not the final, published edition. The reviewer
has not obtained the work through a purchasing arrangement that conveys
purchased rights to the work. I would not recommend that the item be turned
over to the Friends group for a book sale, much less added to the library
and presented as a published work.

If the library were providing a historical perspective or archival service,
there may be reason to hold the editions and make them available. But they
would be properly cataloged, indicating their pre-publication status. And I
suspect that the library would need to acquire these by someone who had a
right to pass them along--perhaps the author or editor. It's hard for me to
imagine such works being truly useful in a general public library
collection.
 

John DeBacher
Consultant--Public Library Administration
Division for Libraries, Technology, and Community Learning
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction
(608)266-7270
 <http://dpi.wi.gov/pld/> http://dpi.wi.gov/pld/  

-----Original Message-----
From: Dianne Harmon [mailto:dharmon at joliet.lib.il.us] 
Sent: Tuesday, May 30, 2006 6:00 PM
To: Carrie Haverman; publib at webjunction.org
Subject: RE: [Publib] Advance Reader's Copies and Uncorrected Proofs



No, we do not add galleys or uncorrected proofs to our catalog.  Those
copies are not the final version for that ISBN and they contain mistakes.  I
asked Random House at one of the conferences recently what they thought of
libraries circulating those uncorrected proofs/galleys.  Their staff member
was not in favor of that -- certainly for more than one reason, I'm sure.  
 
Dianne Harmon 
Associate Director for Public Services 
Joliet Public Library
Joliet, IL 
815-740-2660
www.joliet.lib.il.us 

  _____  

From: publib-bounces at webjunction.org on behalf of Carrie Haverman
Sent: Tue 5/30/2006 11:01 AM
To: publib at webjunction.org
Subject: [Publib] Advance Reader's Copies and Uncorrected Proofs



When library staff go to a conference or an event like PLA or BookExpo and
pick up Uncorrected Proofs or Advance Reader's Copies, do you ever choose to
catalog the items into your collection?  I'd like to hear thoughts about
this practice either way. 

Thanks, 

Carrie Haverman, District Consultant 
Capital Area Library District 
101 Walnut St.  Harrisburg, PA 17101 
phone: 717.234.4961 x106 
fax: 717.234.7479 
chaverman at dcls.org 

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