On 22/12/06, geni geniice@gmail.com wrote:
On 12/22/06, David Gerard dgerard@gmail.com wrote:
Because deposit libraries don't actually expend a lot of effort tracking down small publishers who don't send them a copy, beyond perhaps a letter if they find out they exist (perhaps years after the fact). Because deposit libraries don't have money either.
At one point I ran across some refences on scams involveing vanity publishers. One of the things even these "publishers" did was send a copy to the british libiary (the scams were UK based) since they could claim it as marketing and I supose to a degree made them appear more legit. With the exception of print on demarnd people I can't see a reason why legit publishers should be much different.
I'm speaking from my own experience in Australia. An individual in Australia can apply for an ISBN from the National Library of Australia, which is per the name a deposit library, so they generally would remember to send a copy in. But "publishing" for deposit library purposes was defined as "distributing three or more copies of something" - which means a lot of stuff that should be deposited won't be. So the deposit libraries would write a letter asking nicely when they found out. And welcome contributions of specialist collections, e.g. I donated my Australian indie rock fanzine collection to the West Australian state library when I left Australia, and they were most pleased.
In the general case, you're right, *almost* everything will be in a national deposit library; but stuff can and will be missed, and not necessarily from a lack of significance.
- d.