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Date:      Mon, 10 Sep 2001 18:47:40 -0400
From:      Michael Lucas <mwlucas@blackhelicopters.org>
To:        Matthew Hunt <mph@astro.caltech.edu>
Cc:        Robert Clark <res03db2@gte.net>, Don Wilde <don@silver-lynx.com>, David Kelly <dkelly@hiwaay.net>, Bzdik BSD <bzdik@yahoo.com>, freebsd-advocacy@FreeBSD.ORG, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG
Subject:   Re: Books on FreeBSD and local libraries
Message-ID:  <20010910184740.A52972@blackhelicopters.org>
In-Reply-To: <20010910153526.B65659@wopr.caltech.edu>; from mph@astro.caltech.edu on Mon, Sep 10, 2001 at 03:35:26PM -0700
References:  <20010910040911.33587.qmail@web13607.mail.yahoo.com> <20010910093153.A90211@grumpy.dyndns.org> <3B9CCFCF.A1C5E743@silver-lynx.com> <20010910101010.B66603@darkstar.gte.net> <20010910153526.B65659@wopr.caltech.edu>

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Well, let me advertise both my biases here:

I am a recovering university librarian.  I am also a forthcoming
FreeBSD book author.

If you want a book to be added to your library, here's how to go about
it.

First, fill out a request card, if offered.

Believe it or else, you can generally speak with an acquisitions
librarian.  If you have a book that you're willing to donate, attach a
review from a reputable source -- not necessarily the New York Times
Review of Books, but amazon.com is at least recognizable.  Show it to
the acquisitions librarian, and ask if they're interested.

If you don't want to lay out the cash first, bring in the review and
ask if they'd be interested.

Some librarians are petty tyrants who will not accept anything that
might interfere with their absolute mastery of all topics in the
library.  Most, however, are decent people who want to provide good &
useful books.  If you say, "I'm a professional, I work with this
stuff, and I'd like to donate this to the library because I found it
very useful for my field" they'll jump on it.  Just say, "If you
decide to not accept this for the collection, I'd like the book back."

Most of what gets donated to the library is, to put it bluntly, crap.
Librarians know their patrons.  Many donations are sold simply because
the librarian has learned through experience that it will never be
checked out.  At the university where I worked, some books had never
been checked out since being acquired in 1958.  The university opened
in 1957.  Shelf space for these dusty tomes is not a minor concern.

In short, talk to the acquisitions librarian.  Say you'll buy it if
they'll shelf it.  Give them a review.  Most purchasing decisions are
based on reviews.


On Mon, Sep 10, 2001 at 03:35:26PM -0700, Matthew Hunt wrote:
> On Mon, Sep 10, 2001 at 10:10:10AM -0700, Robert Clark wrote:
> 
> > There are often people who are paid to buy books.
> > 
> > I would imagine that they might resent outsiders
> > determining what is in the library's collection.
> 
> The libraries that I am familiar with express their resentment
> by providing outsiders (whom they call "patrons") with little cards
> or even online forms on which to specify their requests.
> 
> While you might expect them to use these cards to start a bonfire
> or similar festivity, I have found that they instead use them as an
> indication of what books they might want to buy, and sometimes even
> notify the "outsider" when the volume has been added to the collection.
> 
> -- 
> Matthew Hunt <mph@astro.caltech.edu> * UNIX is a lever for the
> http://www.pobox.com/~mph/           * intellect. -J.R. Mashey
> 
> To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org
> with "unsubscribe freebsd-chat" in the body of the message

-- 
Michael Lucas
mwlucas@blackhelicopters.org
http://www.blackhelicopters.org/~mwlucas/
Big Scary Daemons: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/q/Big_Scary_Daemons

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