I contacted Anne Mintz about the Forbes story and have her permission to
post the message below, which she received from the article's author, whom
she said was a loyal library user and fan. A good approach would be to
complain directly to Mattel, rather than to Forbes, since Mattel is the
source of the issue. Complaining to Forbes may result in them printing
letters that may unintentionally make us appear whiny, which is something I
think we'd like to avoid.
Jan Rivers (Reference/ Electronic Services Librarian, Dorsey & Whitney LLP)
Anne:
You can assure your correspondent that Forbes checked with the people at
Mattel, who affirmed that: 1/ the whole poll was "tongue-in-cheek" (their
phrase, by the way), 2/ it was not intended to be taken seriously, 3/ it was
intended for kids and not adults, 4/ cumulative statistics as to the votes
were not kept or used for any kind of marketing and research purpose, such
as determining prototypes for future Barbies, and 5/ Mattel was utterly
surprised to learn from Forbes that various professions, including
librarians, were treating this as a scientific poll and trying to rig the
outcome through organized voting efforts.
--barrett ( wbarrett@forbes.com )
-----Original Message-----
From: Storck, Mariann [mailto:Mariann.Storck@usdoj.gov]
Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2003 10:49 AM
To: 'law-lib@ucdavis.edu'
Subject: RE: Barbie Follow-Up
My response to all of this was to just have one of us (whoever has too much
time on his/her hands), compile all the comments from the last 24 hours and
send them along to both Forbes and the commentator. However, this too is a
good solution and perhaps Anne Mintz will take the actions necessary to
educate the writer.
Promoting our services and being involved in public relations is never a
waste of time.
All opinions and comments stated herein are my own and not representative of
my agency.
Mariann Storck
Legal Information Specialist
1225 Seventeenth Street, Suite 700
Denver, CO 80202
303-454-0225
FAX: 303-454-0403
mariann.storck@usdoj.gov
-----Original Message-----
From: Rivers, Jan [mailto:Rivers.Jan@dorseylaw.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2003 7:26 AM
To: 'T. R. Halvorson'; law-lib@ucdavis.edu
Subject: RE: Barbie Follow-Up
I know Anne Mintz and will send her a message now.
Jan Rivers
-----Original Message-----
From: T. R. Halvorson [mailto:trh@midrivers.com]
Sent: Thursday, January 30, 2003 8:51 AM
To: law-lib@ucdavis.edu
Subject: Re: Barbie Follow-Up
Perhaps a useful approach would be to talk with Forbes' own librarians. The
magazine actually does rely on quite a lot of library research, though the
author of the too-much-time article likely is an exception. Not being a
librarian myself, I might be the wrong person, but surely someone among
those on the list concerned with this matter must know Anne Mintz, Director
of Knowledge Management at Forbes Inc. If you do, why not pick up the phone
and have an easygoing, exploratory chat. Opportunity might manifest itself
...
T. R. in Montana
"Have you thanked your librarian today?"
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