The “Nagging” List
Dec 25th, 2009 by sharbrough
Of the 26 million pages here, something like 200,000 are missing. It’s important for researchers to be able to determine if a record is included in a published set, or not. In this case, it’s as if someone had published a book with 99% of the information found in the original record, and then included a terrific index in the back – that only included the 99% of the records that were in the book. Experienced researchers would be frustrated, and novice researchers would be confused. Or worse, perhaps drawn to the wrong conclusions. The value of a research site is related to the completeness of the titles they publish.
In fairness, the missing pages are likely to be more trouble than they’re worth to a publisher. In some cases, the microfilm is no longer in the publisher’s possession. It’s not easy to work things like this in, when there are so many other project clamoring for the attention of managers. In some cases, it might actually BE finished, and the arithmetic on the website might just be incorrect.
But customers have grounds for concern. There are slightly more than 60 million images on the site, and 26 million of them are in these 31 titles. In a sense, half of the website consists of projects begun, executed for all but a tiny fraction of the job, and then … stopped. Customers don’t know whether the publisher is going to follow through or not. Has the publisher agreed to do only what is easy, and to ask the market to overlook the rest? In this case, the publisher is mum about the reasons for the delays, and customers can only wonder.
My guess is that Footnote will be responsive to customers. If you are waiting for them to finish something, let them know. If you’re happy with the job they’re doing, this is a great time of year to let them know that, too.
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