DOCUMENTATION SURVEY

Pages171-178
Published date01 February 1967
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/eb026428
Date01 February 1967
Subject MatterInformation & knowledge management,Library & information science
DOCUMENTATION SURVEY
BOOK TRADE
BARKER,
R. E. and DAVIES, G. R.
Books are different; an account of the defence of
the
Net
Book Agreement before the Restrictive Practices Court in
1962.
London, Macmillan,
1966.
xx,938p.
This book is an edited version of the proceedings of the hearing of the
case
in which the
Net Book Agreement
was
successfully
defended
against
an
attack made under the Restric-
tive Practices Act. The main
purpose
of the action was to show that
the
Agreement, which
maintains minimum resale prices of
books,
was not contrary to the public interest. Not
only the written depositions
are
printed but
a
great deal of
the
oral evidence given at the
hearing as
well.
There are many supporting documents, and in addition an introduction
by the President of the Publishers' Association, and special
essays
on the
legal,
economic,
and
accountancy
aspects
of the
case.
There
is
also
a
good
index
and the
witnesses who gave
evidence included publishers, booksellers, and librarians of many kinds. The book is a
major source of information on the economics of the book
trade,
and this in itself makes
it of great importance to librarians and other people who are concerned with the printed
word.
It also contains
a
great deal of surprisingly detailed information about practices in
libraries of various kinds. It
has
value both
as
background reading
and as a
work of refer-
ence.
DOCUMENTATION
CLOSING
the stable door
and
Biological journals and exchange groups.
Nature,
vol. 213,
no.
576, nth February
1967,
p. 537-8, 547-8.
The two
notes
concern
the
end of the Information Exchange Groups set
up
by the American
National Institutes of
Health.
The statement of the Commission of Biological Editors has
considered the difficulties raised by circulation of pre-prints which may subsequently ap-
pear in journals, and
the
following policies
are
proposed.
No paper will
be
considered for
publication if that paper, in essentially the same form, has previously been released as an
LEG
memorandum.
Papers
may not
be
submitted
simultaneously to journals
and
IEGs, and
IEG memoranda are not to be cited
as
such
in a published
paper.
The statement does not
advocate abolition of
the
Groups,
but
urges
continuation
as a
means
of informal communi-
cation.
The controversy over the circulation of pre-prints by the Groups has been going
on for
some
months
and the
Institutes
have
now discontinued
the
experiment.
The editorial
note reviews the whole problem of circulation by the Groups and the statement by the
Commission. One of the particular aims of the Commission
is
to avoid multiple publica-
tion.
The policy of
Nature
in connection with the Information Exchange Groups is
con-
sidered,
if they are likely to function at all in the future. This is the latest communication
in
a
succession of controversial articles
and
letters in
Nature
on this subject.
171

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT