On 22/12/06, geni <geniice(a)gmail.com> wrote:
On 12/22/06, David Gerard <dgerard(a)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.