This came across through a colleague:
So we bought the new book on Hank Jones published by Alphascript Publishing for the library at Brigham Young University. What? Never heard of the book? Well, I would tell you the author of the book if I knew it. Turns out that Alphascript Publishing, a subsidiary of VDM Publishing, is in the business of reprinting Wikipedia articles in paperback book form. This 100-page book is a mere $45.00! We received an ILL request for the "book" and decided to purchase when we couldn't find it in another library. Here's a Wikipedia article about VDM: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VDM_Publishing Apparently, the article used to have much more criticism of VDM's business practices, but they have since been edited out. Buyer beware Alphascript Publishing, Betascript Publishing, Fastbook Publishing, and VDM Publishing House. The cover images of these books are all similar, and have a minimalist-design slick and have a high-quality stock image remotely related to the subject matter (ex.: Hank Jones' had a picture of a (white) person's hands playing the piano; the history of Ghana book has two giraffes). These "books" are available on Amazon alongside books that are actually authored, edited, and published with more reputable publishing houses. Clicking on one of the editors of the Hank Jones books reveals that Frederic P. Miller has about 65,500 books that he's "edited." Wow, he's been busy. Steven Nordstrom Music and Dance Librarian Brigham Young University 4328 Harold B. Lee Library Provo, UT 84602 steven_nordst...@byu.edu (801) 422-5299 Rachel Leket-Mor Bibliographer Religion, Philosophy, Jewish Studies Collections and Scholarly Communication Office Arizona State University Libraries PO Box 871006 Tempe, AZ 85287-1006 Phone: 480 965 2618 Fax: 480 965 9127 http://libguides.asu.edu/profile.php?uid=1311 --- Messages and opinions expressed on Hasafran are those of the individual author and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association of Jewish Libraries (AJL) =========================================================== Submissions for Ha-Safran, send to: hasaf...@osu.edu SUBscribing, SIGNOFF commands send to: Listproc @ lists.acs.ohio-state.edu Questions, problems, complaints, compliments;-) send to: galron.1 @ osu.edu Ha-Safran Archives: Current: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/maillist.html History: http://www.mail-archive.com/hasafran%40lists.acs.ohio-state.edu/history.html AJL HomePage http://www.JewishLibraries.org
