[DCRM-L] capturing recent prices in digital scans: yes or no?

[Robert Maxwell]

Another factor is what the purpose of the scanning is. If it’s to put the scan into a public archive such as Internet Archive or HathiTrust, I might not include price information. If it’s to mount an exhibit of books that once belonged to so and so, maybe prices written into the volume are important, particularly if they’re part of an inscription.

Also, is the figure clearly the price a specific former owner actually paid, or is it a bookseller’s price pencilled in, without reference to a particular buyer?

Robert L. Maxwell
Ancient Languages and Special Collections Librarian
6728 Harold B. Lee Library
Brigham Young University
Provo, UT 84602
(801)422-5568

"We should set an example for all the world, rather than confine ourselves to the course which has been heretofore pursued"--Eliza R. Snow, 1842.

From: dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu [mailto:dcrm-l-bounces at lib.byu.edu] On Behalf Of Schneider, Nina
Sent: Wednesday, May 11, 2016 5:25 PM
To: DCRM Users' Group
Subject: [DCRM-L] capturing recent prices in digital scans: yes or no?

Hi all,

I thought I would ask the opinion of this group since we have begun to encounter a sticky widget as we move forward digitizing our collections...

Is there a general consensus  of whether or not, when photographing/scanning a volume (from front to back, including blanks), to keep (i.e. not redact) the price that the former owner paid for a book? Perhaps older prices aren’t too controversial, but what if someone paid a significant amount -- and that price was written on an endpaper or printed on a bookseller’s description that is adhered to an endpaper – and then donated the book? Or, if a book has been sold at a recent auction and then re-sold to a library for a bit more, what then?

I don’t see anything that would help in the RBMS guidelines and standards, so I’m just wondering if there’s a common practice of full disclosure or silent omission. I realize the answers depend on a number of factors (type of institution, deed of gift, etc.), but hoping for some guidance.

Thank you!

Nina


+---------------
Nina M. Schneider
Rare Books Librarian
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
2520 Cimarron Street
Los Angeles, CA  90018
(323) 731-8529

nschneider at humnet.ucla.edu<mailto:nschneider at humnet.ucla.edu>
http://www.clarklibrary.ucla.edu/

** Please note that the Clark Library is currently CLOSED for our seismic retrofit **
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