Hello everyone,
I would very much like to know whether anyone else is being charged by
publishers for the obtaining of e-copies of books for use by
visually-impaired students. As you all probably know, the obtaining of
e-books for my VI students is an area which I have worked hard on personally
over the last few years, and often with great success. I have dealt with a
considerable number of publishers, both small and large, across the UK, and
seldom with any real adverse reaction when I have fully explained the
current law and the needs of my students. However, for the first time ever,
I have today received a response from one of the UK's major university
presses saying that, while they are happy to send me the relevant two books
in PDF format, they will also be sending me "our invoice for £50 plus VAT,
to cover the
administrative and postage costs involved". While I am not going to name
the publisher, I have to say that I have only had one previous dealing with
them, about two years ago, when they claimed that they didn't have the
relevant title that I wanted in e-format. I should add that I have also
heard some not very good things from others about this particular publisher
and their willingness to help in such matters, but I will only name and
shame if enough people come back to me on this group to say that they are
also not used to being charged for e-books for these purposes. All I can
say personally is that, at 50 pounds plus VAT for just two titles, my
Department's budget would disappear very quickly indeed at such rates,
especially with six visually-impaired students here this year. These
particular titles were requested for one of our post-graduate VI students,
and the reading list from which it was taken contains 63 titles alone. That
would be well over 1500 pounds alone, excluding VAT, if I was to pay this
particular publishers so-called admin costs.
Please share your experiences with me, and, if you are quite used to picking
up what I personally think are astronomical costs, then how do you do it?
Paul.
Paul Jarman,
Disability Support Officer,
2.39 Francis Bancroft Building,
Queen Mary, University of London,
Mile End Road,
LONDON. E1 4NS
Tel.: +44 (0)20 7882-2757,
Fax: +44 (0)20 7882-5223,
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
|