I very much sympathize with
Kathy's situation.
Some of our member booksellers (such as myself, a
member since 1980), deal in rare and out-of-print art reference
material.
Before committing to purchasing
an expensive item on line from an unknown source, why not post your request on
the ARLIS chat line?
For example, I have about 17,000
titles catalogued on line, but over 35,000 others which are not. Some of
the prices of ABE vendors are appallingly high, notably one outfit
which invariably has rather common art books and catalogues priced ten to twenty
times what anyone else has it for. A catalogue which I just listed
for $10 is available from them for $177, for example; a second vendor, following
his lead has it at $99. But it's not worth much more than $10 or
$20. Some of the other vendors who no nothing about art undercut his price
by half, but it's still five time what the price should be.
I'm sure that those of us who
are bookseller members welcome desiderata lists from institutional members and
are more than willing to offer material if available. We also have the
expertise to recognize what is rare and valuable and what is not. By
posting your wants on the chat line, it would be an inexpensive and perhaps
fruitful way of reciprocating bookseller members for their support of the
organization through their exhibiting at conferences and sponsorship of special
travel awards and prizes. By appealing to bookseller ARLIS
members, it may save you or your students some of the huge expense in
replacing out-of-print books when you buy from untrustworthy and inexperienced
sources.
Raymond Smith
R.W. Smith
Bookseller
New Haven
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, February 23, 2009 10:52
AM
Subject: [ARLIS-L] Policy when it comes
to expensive/hard-to-replace books?
Does your library have a policy regarding the circulation
of unusually expensive resources?
If yes, how do you balance access and
control?
Last semester one of our in-demand books went missing from
a design studio. Although we acquired it for about $65 several years ago, in
the intervening years the now out-of-print book has become scarce. The
graduate student who checked it out and shared it with studiomates during the
semester is now facing a replacement bill of $300+ --and that¢s for a used
copy.
This is on my mind because I¢m about to order a similarly
expensive resource that will likely see a lot of use, and my fiscally prudish
impulse is to restrict it to the reference shelf!
Kathy
Edwards
Arts
& Architecture Reference
Gunnin
Architecture Library
112
Lee Hall, Clemson University
Clemson
SC 29634
(864)
656-4289
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