RE: paleonet report on reprint give-aways

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Xavier Panades I Blas, Ms

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From: JAMES STJOHN <stjohn.2@osu.edu>
Reply-To: paleonet@nhm.ac.uk
To: PaleoNet@nhm.ac.uk
Subject: paleonet report on reprint give-aways
Date: Mon, 21 Jun 2004 10:29:02 -0400

To all Paleonetters,

Hi everyone.  I’ve offered some paleo. & paleo.-related reprints and books 
in the past year or so.

Someone suggested I send out a brief report concerning the extent to which 
the reprints & books found new owners - the idea being that everyone could 
see which subject areas were most requested (& which areas of paleo. 
research are of most interest).

My initial stashes of articles are fairly faithful cross-sections of 
paleontology - all geologic ages, from microfossils to inverts. to verts. to 
plants to problematica to evolutionary theory to history of geology.  My 
posted lists of reprints don’t quite represent the initial diversity of 
research topic.  I personally take the Cambrian ones, most trilobite items, 
some history of geology items, and any soft-bodied fossil papers I don’t 
already have.  I also sometimes let a couple friends of mine have a first 
crack at items they’re interested in.  Even after this, there remains a 
fairly complete cross-section of paleo. articles.

I’m pleased to report that every item, from every one of my posted listings, 
has found a new home with various people around the world.  Only once did a 
batch of Chinese fusulinid foram articles not get initially taken.  But, 
they did eventually end up in someone’s personal library.

It’s difficult to say which fossil group is most requested - all articles 
get picked up quickly & all get requested by many people.  Unfortunately, I 
usually only have one copy to send out.  Foram, mollusc, vertebrate, and 
paleobotany items all see heavy demand.

Some items that saw heavy request demands were quite understandable - a few 
original Burgess Shale things, original Cushman foram articles, etc.

But, I’ve been surprised at the demand for things that I would consider 
rather esoteric.

I’ve gotten many reprint requests from Australia, Europe, South America, 
North America, Central America, and occasionally from Africa and 
southeastern/southern/far-eastern Asia.  Requests have been from all kinds 
of folks - university professors/researchers, research institute personnel, 
pre-college teachers, industry geologists, national & state geological 
survey personnel, master’s students, Ph.D. students, post-docs, & 
retired/private citizens.

I’m not sure if this provides any insight into the health of paleontology.  
At the least, all it indicates is that people like getting free things (so 
do I).  And, it does indicate to me that there is a way to distribute 
reprints & discards & retired personal libraries that don’t find heirs.  
Perhaps a formal organization somewhere in the world might consider picking 
up on this in some way?  I’m not sure how if that might work or not.  
Suggestions?  Agree?  Disagree?

Best,

James St. John

stjohn.2@osu.edu
________________________________________

James St. John
Founders Hall 156A
1179 University Drive
Ohio State University at Newark
Newark, Ohio 43055  USA
___________________________________________

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