Sarah Boling (who I assume is no relation to Bo Ring) wrote:
<snip>
>I see the following points for discussion in the current case:
>
>* How well do we tolerate an occasional product announcement,
>* Is it different if the announcement was in response to a direct
>question (which it was *not* in this case if you reread the question), (I
>really mean "does anyone have a good source of Bahamian fishing laws" type
>questions),
>* Who gets to announce useful products and who gets chased and stoned,
>* Why,
>* What's the difference between legitimate discussion of a product and
>annoying puffery (that should take a while),
>* Is it a publisher/librarian etiquette issue or an Internet etiquette
>issue, and, here's a good one,
>* Do we do our bit for competition in the legal information marketplace
>by allowing small vendors free promotional space on the list but demanding
>that big bad wolves stick to the accepted procedure of spending lots of
>money printing out colored fliers and mailing them.
It is inappropriate for any vendor to post product sales announcements to
law-lib simply because there's a *more* appropriate list: newlawbooks-l.
Vendors announcing great merchandise should post there. They'll reach
fewer people, but those people will all be interested in seeing
the announcements. Vendors who post product ads to law-lib should
be politely directed to this appropriate forum, via personal replies
from law-lib readers. Many law-lib readers.
Vendors responding to inquiries made to law-lib should send personal
replies and trust the judgment of the recipients to pass info to the
the list when appropriate -- e.g., in a "thank you" message, or in
response to requests to summarize findings. If non-vendor law-libbers
answer questions this way, why shouldn't vendors?
Vendors who post product sales announcements to law-lib are probably
hurting themselves, since they risk ticking off a number
of potential purchasers. Small publishers would have the
most to lose, since many readers of law-lib already hate the
big guys (or at least hate some of the things the b.g.'s do).
Announcements of vendor Web sites are a different matter. I think
these may be appropriate for law-lib, especially if they briefly describe
they types of information and links available at the sites. A message
from a vendor announcing the existence of the company and that a
free product catalog is available might also be acceptable.
These are just my opinions, but I'm willing to share.
Brian Smith
Librarian
Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue
Chicago
jdrpchi@interaccess.com
"Fortune favors the prepared mind." -- Louis Pasteur
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