Christine's recommended language, or any other letter of protest, can be
sent by e-mail to:
Peter Warwick
President and Chief Executive Officer, Thomson West
I sent a letter to this e-mail address 15 minutes ago, and the e-mail
address appears to work.
If Mr. Warwick receives enough e-mail, that result might just alert him
to the level of dissatisfaction, even though Thomson West Librarian
Relations Managers, among others at Thomson West, monitor this list serv
and may wish to respond.
This communication and its content reflect just my own opinion as a law
librarian, and have no other affiliation.
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu [mailto:owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu] On
Behalf Of Graesser, Christine L.
Sent: Wednesday, May 03, 2006 6:50 AM
To: law-lib@ucdavis.edu
Subject: Thomson West as a Hot Topic
Frankly, I don't think this situation would be improved by a Hot Topic
program. Thomson West has participated in several of these types of
programs over the years and they have not seemed particularly
productive. As for boycotting, it would be difficult to organize and
again, not that effective. We should try to communicate first.
I like Carol Bredemeyer's idea of each and every librarian who attends
the Annual Meeting buttonholing management at the West exhibit and other
events. Say in concise, polite terms that you are not happy that Thomson
West has not cooperated in providing pricing information.
Librarians who do not plan to attend the meeting can flood Thomson with
letters. Numbers do get noticed. Making our views known in a civil and
coherent manner could well make a difference.
___________________________________________
Suggestion (only) for language:
I am writing to protest Thomson West's egregious lack of cooperation
with Kendall Svengalis in his price tracking efforts. Failing to
cooperate violates the principals of the American Association of Law
Libraries "Guide to Fair Business Practices for Legal Publishers".
In particular, the Guide stipulates that "publishers should provide full
disclosure about their products, services, prices, and transactions
insofar as allowed without violating contractual agreements or revealing
proprietary information." Given that nearly every other publisher has
cooperated with Mr. Svengalis on pricing information, I view as
unreasonable any claims to proprietary information that is more
restrictive than common publisher practice.
Furthermore, I consider such restrictive actions as harmful to the
entire law library community and all customers of your products.
___________________________________________
Chris
Christine Graesser
Legal Information Specialist
Brown Rudnick
Cityplace I
Hartford, CT 06103
cgraesser@brownrudnick.com
860-509-6549 M-F 9am-1pm Eastern
-----Original Message-----
From: Barbara Traub [mailto:traubb@stjohns.edu]
Sent: Tuesday, May 02, 2006 2:15 PM
To: Merring, Lynn; law-lib@ucdavis.edu
Subject: RE: Solution to the West Publishing debacle
I do think, however, if this becomes the "Hot Topic", that a
representative from West should be invited to participate. Perhaps the
panel could even be broader than just West's pricing issues, and
representatives of other vendors could be invited to really address the
issues. I don't think a "bash West" session would be productive.
Barbara
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu [mailto:owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu] On
Behalf Of Merring, Lynn
Sent: Tuesday, May 02, 2006 12:14 PM
To: law-lib@ucdavis.edu
Subject: RE: Solution to the West Publishing debacle
What a GREAT idea!
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu [mailto:owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu] On
Behalf Of Barbara Traub
Sent: Monday, May 01, 2006 7:24 PM
To: Rosin, Katherine (SHB); Michael Ravnitzky
Cc: law-lib@ucdavis.edu
Subject: RE: Solution to the West Publishing debacle
Perhaps this could be our "Hot Topic"?
Barbara G. Traub, J.D., M.L.S.
Head of Reference and Instructional Services
Rittenberg Law Library
St. John's University School of Law
8000 Utopia Parkway
Jamaica, N.Y. 11439
(718) 990-1668 (voice)
(718) 990-6649 (fax)
traubb@stjohns.edu
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu on behalf of Rosin, Katherine
(SHB)
Sent: Mon 5/1/2006 7:16 PM
To: Michael Ravnitzky
Cc: law-lib@ucdavis.edu
Subject: RE: Solution to the West Publishing debacle
Excellently articulated, and I agree.
Katherine Rosin
Reference Librarian
Shook, Hardy & Bacon
Miami Center, Suite 2400
201 South Biscayne Boulevard
Miami, Florida 33131-4332
E-Mail: KRosin@SHB.com
Phone: 305-358-5171 OR
800-273-8282 x 68023
Fax: 305-358-7470
-----Original Message-----
From: owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu
[mailto:owner-law-lib@ucdavis.edu]On
Behalf Of Michael Ravnitzky
Sent: Monday, May 01, 2006 7:04 PM
To: law-lib@ucdavis.edu
Subject: Solution to the West Publishing debacle
I am not a librarian, so I have been reluctant to weigh in.
However, in my humble opinion, I believe that neither a boycott
of West
Publishing products nor a boycott of their reception would be
productive,
and neither would accomplish the stated objectives. In fact,
the boycott of
West products smacks of censorship and is in some ways contrary
to the
spirit of free and open inquiry held in such esteem by the
library
profession, although censorship was obviously not at all
intended by those
who suggested a boycott. It might also be contrary to the
aspirational
ideals of the library profession by restricting information
available to
patrons.
Instead, a solution that airs a variety of viewpoints and adds a
forum for
edification on this subject seems much more in tune with the
library
profession.
I think that a couple of points from the ALA Code of Ethics,
which is
incorporated by reference within the AALL Code of Ethics, appear
applicable
here, or at least worth thinking about.
The ALA Code of Ethics Item 2:
We uphold the principles of intellectual freedom and resist all
efforts to
censor library resources.
The ALA Code of Ethics Item 7 reads:
We distinguish between our personal convictions and professional
duties and
do not allow our personal beliefs to interfere with fair
representation of
the aims of our institutions or the provision of access to their
information
resources.
The ALA Code of Ethics Item 5 reads, in part:
We treat co-workers and other colleagues with respect, fairness
and good
faith....
A boycott of the reception would be mean spirited and rude, in
addition to
being pointless and counterproductive.
Therefore, I respectfully suggest adding a seminar or panel
discussion on
the subject of pricing and West Publishing at St. Louis, and any
future AALL
meetings. I leave defining the topic specificially as an
exercise for the
reader. Such a seminar or panel discussion would, by its very
existence, do
a lot more to help resolve the stated concerns in a manner
consistent with
the professionalism I have always seen in the law librarian
community.
Michael Ravnitzky
mikerav@verizon.net
Silver Spring, Maryland
"MMS <shb.com>" made the following
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