[padg] Books on Demand

[Emily Holmes <eh2124@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Dear Colleagues: Our Acquisitions Dept has been trying for several 
months (actually, over a year) to get replacements for brittle materials 
via Proquest. For many years, we would go to the Books on Demand page 
and be able to find the title we needed and then choose a paper or 
microfilm copy. However, it appears that the Books on Demand service is 
not presently available and we have received our orders back, along with 
notes stating that the publications we are requesting are not available 
in any format. I'm told that it's possible that another division within 
Proquest may take over the service, but there's no telling whether or 
when this will actually happen.

I'm wondering if others have had similar experiences when they've tried 
to get replacements for brittle materials or if anyone has had better 
luck than we have in the recent past. I'm also concerned about what will 
become of all those master negatives created and owned by UMI that we 
are counting on to be preserved.

Thanks, in advance, for any information. If folks want to reply off 
list, I'll be glad to compile the information and post the results to 
the list later.
Emily

--
Emily Holmes
Assistant Director
Preservation Reformatting
Columbia University Libraries
101D Butler Library
535 114th Street
New York, NY 10027
Phone: (212)854-1336
Fax: (212)854-9825