You know there's a problem in the system when. . .
. . . the publisher can't tell you any more information than the website has.
So part of the process of getting books in for a class is that before we order we call the publisher to check on the price of the book, and the availability of it.
As orders for publishers tend to include multiple titles for multiple courses, this is useful as it allows us to be able to check with the professor in case anything's wrong - the book's on back order and won't be available 'til the second week of the term, or it's moved onto a new edition which is more expensive and requires an access code, or it's out of print - at some point when not in the middle of placing an order, or after the books are already on their way.
So a professor called in to order for his class next quarter. (Yay! Almost two months in advance! So much time to catch it if things go wrong!) He has one book he is requiring for his class (and he had the ISBN and publisher and everything! I love this guy!), and as he was giving me the information, said
Professor: - also I just dowloaded the Errata sheet and am looking at that. Can you make sure that that is included?
Me: Absolutely, we'll call the publisher and double-check. [Thinking: what the hell is an "Errata sheet"? How do I spell that?]
So to be prompt (and because at week three, very few college kids are clamoring to ask me dumb questions or order readers before noon) I call the publisher to check on pricing and availability, and to be sure that the "errata sheet" was included (and to find out what the hell that might be. . .).
Publisher person on phone: (Very bored, you're either going to be a little dumb or wasting my time.) California-Princeton, how may I help you?
Me: (In my phone-customer service voice, about 1-2 octaves higher and more girly than my normal voice) Hi! I'd like to check pricing and availability on a book.
Publisher: OK. . . ISBN? (Not really believing I'll have it.)
Me: Yes. That's 978, 052, 026, 03, 13. (Pro-tip: when telling a long string of numbers to someone, I've found it's easier if you space it out into segments of 3 numbers, with the tail coming in at 2 or 4 numbers)
Publisher: OK. . .(Very fast and monotone now) Essentials of Paleomagnetism. Available. In paperback. 49.95. 20% discount. Anything else?
Me: Thank you. I did have one other question - does this come with the errata sheet? (Pretending this is a totally normal thing to ask for, and I totally know what I'm talking about)
Publisher: I don't know. There's no notes here about it.
Me: OK. . . do you know if there's anything I can do to find out about this?
Publisher: I'd try the website. University of California Press's website.
Me: OK. . .thank you very much!
So I go to the publisher website, type in the ISBN (Pro-tip: if looking online for a particular book, always type in the ISBN [a 13-digit unique number on the back of any book, usually starting with "978"] if you have it; it's the only way to guarantee you'll get the particular edition, translation, etc. of your book - also the right book, if it's a common type of title) and find out from a link below the book description that the errata sheet is from a small number of errors that the author found in diagrams and whatnot in the book after it was printed, so made a sheet with the corrections. (Errata=something related to errors. Learning!) The link gives a PDF download of the sheet, but there's nothing that show's if a hard copy is included with the book. Time to call the publisher again, and talk to a real person. . .
Publisher: (Sounding like the same woman from 30 seconds ago, but I'm not sure. A little more cheerful and energetic.) California Princeton.
Me: (Still in high-octave professional phone voice) Hi! I'm looking at a book on your website and I have a question?
Publisher: (Doubtful) ISBN?
Publisher: Oh, we just spoke.
Me: Yeah, sorry I wasn't sure if it was the same person.
Publisher: What's your question?
Me: So I can see the link to download the errata sheet here on the website, but I was wondering if there's any way to tell if it comes included in hard copy with the book?
Publisher: No. . .it's just whatever they say on the website. Usually there will be a website included in the book. Does it say anything on the page?
Me: No. . . nothing. . . . I guess I'll just give the professor the URL and let him know.
Publisher: (Sounding almost friendly.) Alright, have a good day.
The only thing the website says about the errata sheet in relation to the book is what it is and gives a PDF download for it. No info on a site included in the book, or if the sheet is shipped with the book. And the only way I could get to the sheet was by typing in the ISBN into the publisher's website - something, in my experience, most college students will balk at, for a number of reasons.
We call the publishers, rather than using automated systems or websites (as a lot of publishers would prefer we do), so we can talk to a real, live, cognitive human being, who can get the most up-to-date information, answer odd questions, and worse comes to worse call us back if they don't have an answer. The woman I talked to could have been more friendly and upbeat when she answered the phone, but I don't really blame her for not having an answer - if all she's given is a computer screen, and all she's trained to do is look at the computer screen, what can she do when the computer screen doesn't give her answers? (Well, call someone else, but again, training. . .)
If the author goes to the trouble of correcting mistakes in a science TEXTBOOK, you'd hope that a publisher would want to include that information somehow - and have their representatives know how to get that information to the customers, both bookstores and students. . .
