I guess you don't buy text books very often. This seems quite an ordinary
price, even cheap, to me. You should try getting some scientific books -
they charge a lot more than 30 pounds.
Also, is lis-ukolug the right place to discuss book prices? I thought it
was a technology forum. Maybe lis-link would be better? lis-ukolug is an
SIG of the IIS after all, not of the LA (yet!! :-))
Regards
Emma
[log in to unmask] on 06-May-1999 13:56
Please respond to [log in to unmask]
To: lis-ukolug
cc: (bcc: Emma L Delaney/CIS/PHRD/SB_PLC)
Subject: Pricey Books!
I attended the LA run workshop yesterday entitled "Managing a Business
Information Service" which I found very useful. Being a relative newcomer
to
the world of business information (and therefore useful sources) I decided
it would be a good idea to buy a book on the subject.
I 'discovered' "Navigating Business Information Sources" by Burke & Hall
which looked excellent till I saw the price tag of
£30.00. Now I appreciate
that a lot of work has gone into the writing of the book and that it's
difficult to estimate its potential value and use to me, but it is a
paperback after all.
How can this price be justified, particularly when the blurb on the back
cover mentions students among its potential readership. I'm sure the
authors
don't get much money out of it, and to claim that the price reflects a
small
print run (it is a specialist book and not a Penguin classic) seems a lame
excuse.
Surely the objective of the publisher (The Library Association) is to shift
as many copies as possible - so why the unecessarily high price?
Dale
DALE MOORE
INFORMATION SPECIALIST
BUSINESS LINK LONDON EAST
TEL: 0181 432 0424
FAX: 0181 432 0499
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