This is an interesting issue that continues to be raised. 

 

At our library, we get some of our e-books through EBL, and I, like many of you, have also found individual art titles in EBL that are missing the images that are contained in the print edition.  When I have contacted the vendor about this, their response has been that they have no control over the matter.  They say they are at the mercy of the publishers who provide the e-books, who not only are leaving out images (mostly due to image copyright/licensing issues), but who also do not provide any disclaimer that the e-book is not the equivalent of the print edition due to the omission of some or all images.  At least if a disclaimer were provided, one would know which e-book titles to avoid purchasing!

 

Our response has been to avoid setting up e-books for our profile with vendors for ANY art books.  The occasional art e-books come through, mostly by patron driven acquisitions.  But I am intentionally avoiding their purchase because of the prevalence of e-books missing images until the image copyright/licensing issue is addressed.

 

This would be an excellent issue for ARLIS/NA as an organization to take up with art publishers.  What better voice to get their attention?

 

Shari

 

Shari A. Salisbury

Librarian Subject Specialist for Art & Art History

UTSA Libraries

The University of Texas at San Antonio

One UTSA Circle

San Antonio, TX  78249-0671

 

Phone: 210-458-4763

 

 

Hello Heather,

 

Not sure if you got the email that the plates (as opposed to the figures) are there.  Don’t know how  Angela found them short of clicking on page after page as the Illustrations list gives no page number!  I tried keywording “Plate XX” in the search box to no avail!

 

I like your idea of putting the burden of determining whether or not all illustrations from the print book are included in its ebook version on the ebook package publisher.  Oxford ebooks are notorious for leaving out images—their rep in Pasadena told me Oxford is a non-profit academic publisher that can’t afford the costs involved in providing the images. 

 

Ruth Thomas, Mugar Library, Boston University

 

 

Sorry to say we don’t have this yet or I would check for you.  However, you bring up an important issue and I’m curious to know if other institutions are negotiating/discussing this with e-book publishers.   We would like to have data about incompleteness available at point of purchase and we’re discussing it with Oxford University Press now, in relation to our TRLN pilot program that uses Oxford’s e-books platform.  http://www.trln.org/committee/CollectionCouncil/TaskGroups/oup/index.htm  The idea being, for instance, libraries could exclude incomplete titles from their approval plans and restrict those titles to slip plans.

 

Heather Gendron

Art Librarian

Sloane Art Library

UNC Chapel Hill

Phone: 919.962.1061

 

 

Again, this Cambridge University Press title previewed in ebrary does not appear to include the 30 colour plates listed under Illustrations.  I wonder if subscribers to Cambridge Books Online have access.  Would appreciate a check.

 

Ruth Thomas, Mugar Library, Boston University

 

 

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