For Immediate Release

Publisher Calls LOC Policy on CIP Data "Elitist and Discriminatory"; Will Spearhead National Campaign to End Practice
(Spokane, WA) — The Library of Congress practice of refusing to issue Cataloging-in-Publication data* to small book-publishing companies and self-publishers is "elitist and discriminatory" and should be replaced by a system that treats all publishers equally, a Spokane-based publisher of academic and trade books said today after announcing that he will spearhead a nationwide campaign to end the discrimination.

"The current LOC policy (http://cip.loc.gov/eligibility.html) of only issuing CIP data to publishers who publish at least three non-self-published books hurts small publishers and self-publishers," said David Demers, publisher of Marquette Books LLC and Demers Books LLC of Spokane, Wash. "It says to the world that ‘small publishers and their books are not worthy of being included this nation’s cataloging system.’ This practice is elitist and discriminatory and contrary to the principles upon which this country was established – that everyone should be treated equally under the law."

Demers said the LOC practice gives an unfair advantage to medium-size and large corporate publishing companies, which automatically are issued CIP data for their titles. But when small publishers or self-publishers apply for such data, their applications are denied. LOC staff justify such denials by saying they don’t have enough money to catalog all the titles that are submitted.

"If they don’t have enough money," Demers said, "then they should use a lottery system for determining which titles get cataloged and which don’t. To implement and operate a system that favors big publishers over small ones flies in the face of the principles upon which this country was founded, and to have the Library of Congress endorse such a practice is not only unethical, it is shameful. I still can’t believe that administrators in the LOC would endorse such a practice. They need to attend some remedial courses on the role of the Constitution in our society."

The LOC’s current policy of denying CIP data to small publishers makes it more difficult or even impossible for researchers to find books published by them or self-publishers, Demers said. For example, Demers said his newest company (Demers Books LLC) is publishing three nonfiction books this October, all of which have historical and scholarly value. One is about origins of Christopher Columbus, another is about legendary blues singer Robert Johnson, and the third contains the memoirs of the last U.S. reporter that Fidel Castro kicked out of Cuba during the Cold War (see www.DemersBooks.com).

"These books will be available in Barnes & Noble and other bookstores nationwide, and no doubt hundreds of libraries across the United States will order them," Demers said. "But the LOC refuses to issue CIP data because the newly formed limited liability company that will publish the books hasn’t published any books prior to this. The decision doesn't even take into account the quality or subject of the books themselves. How strange is that?"

Demers said publisher liaisons at LOC told him that his company could apply for CIP data after these three books are published and when each of them is purchased by more than 300 libraries nationwide. "But what about 50 years from now, when researchers are looking for information about Columbus, Johnson and Castro? The researchers will have a difficult time locating these important books because they will not part of the cataloging system."

Demers said the current policy of denying small publishers access to CIP data also gives large publishers an unfair advantage in the marketplace. "Regardless of what LOC officials say, the issuing of CIP data has the effect legitimating books, and this effect gives an unfair market advantage to large publishers. Librarians prefer books with CIP data because they are easier to catalog and can be accessed through LOC subject searches. They also have the appearance of being more important than books without CIP data."

Demers said he tried to contact top-level administrators in the LOC, but lower-level officials refused to provide the names and telephone numbers of superiors in the organization. Demers said LOC officials also informed him that the agency would no longer issue CIP data for his academic books, which are published under the Marquette Books imprint.

Marquette Books, which was founded in 2001, has published 70 titles, most of which are scholarly works about mass communication and sociology. Because of their specialty, many of the titles sell fewer than 400 copies over a four-year period. "But quality in this market cannot measured in terms of total sales," Demers said. "These works are written by some of the top scholars in the world and they contribute to a better understanding of our world, and my concern is whether researchers 50 or 100 years from now will be able to located them if they are not included in the LOC database. Also, the LOC’s practice will discouraged me and other small academic publishers from publishing worthy but low-selling academic monographs, because they are being marginalized even before they are published."

Demers said he has informed U.S. Senators Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray of Washington state about the CIP problem and would lobby them, librarians and other legislators to change the discriminatory practice.

In addition to running the book publishing companies, Demers is a mass media scholar (associate professor of mass communication at Washington State University**) and a former newspaper reporter who has spent much of his life promoting the First Amendment and freedom of speech. In the 1990s, he filed lawsuits that led the University of Wisconsin system to drop "collegiality clauses" from its faculty rules and prompted the Minnesota Supreme Court to force open some portions of internal affairs police complaints at the Minneapolis Police Department. He can be reached at the address below.

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*CIP data is information created by the Library of Congress for the purpose of classifying books for storage in libraries and for retrieval through the Library of Congress subject headings cataloging system. CIP data is usually published on the copyright page of a book. It provides numbers for cataloging books under the Library of Congress and Dewey Decimal systems. In addition to providing basic information such as author name and title of the book, the CIP also includes information to help readers find books on various topics. The CIP also usually indicates whether the book has an index, bibliography, and illustrations.

**Washington State University and its officials do not endorse or condone any of the statements made by Dr. Demers or in this press release.

For more information, contact

Dr. David Demers, Publisher
Marquette Books LLC
5915 S. Regal St., Suite 118B
Spokane, Washington 99223-6970\
509-443-7057 (voice)
509-448-2191 (fax)
books@marquettebooks.com

www.MarquetteBooks.com

www.DemersBooks.com

Patti,
that is surely the most boring thread I've ever read.
The very fact that you have replied to it yourself only goes to prove me right.
'Don't pay any attention to critics - don't even ignore them.' - Sam Goldwyn

It means that only books published by large corporate publishers will be catalogued in the Library of Congress, while people who publish with smaller houses can go fuck themselves.

Concise, cogent, to the point. Look how long it took the original post to say the same thing. "...the likes of NickP can rant on if they like"

I occasionally rant on at http://amonsterinthemirror.blogspot.com/

Thanks Lawrence, thanks, Nick. It SO boosts my credibility to be seen hanging out with the two of you. No doubt you'll drum up oodles of support for the cause.