References
Jane McGary (Wed, 19 Nov 2003 11:25:22 PST)

Mary Sue wrote,

SOmebody else will have to set up the actual page, which I can't do,
although I can edit it. I will also have to be told how to make the links,
if that's something I'm supposed to do.

And she asked: "And although I really like the brief annotation idea, since
this will be in the public domain should we be careful about what we write?
For example might it be better just to say "Useful for color photos"
instead of "Riddled with errors, but useful for color photos." I know we
are eager to expose some of the books that drive us crazy, but would there
be a liability issue?"

Answer: No, we would not be legally liable for expressing a negative
opinion of a book. Thousands of people do it every day, in print and on the
Internet. in formal book reviews and in the thumbnail reviews such as are
found on Amazon. The worst thing that could happen would be incurring the
animosity of the author. The References page should, however, contain some
sort of statement to the effect that "Subjective evaluations are those of
individual contributors to this web page and do not reflect the official
policy of the Pacific Bulb Society, its officers and board of directors." I
think it important to warn people away from spending money on bad books,
and then using the information in them in further publication; I say this
as a person who has had an editorial hand in a lot of books, both good and
bad, and who recognizes the flaws of the latter sort.

Regarding what the headword of the entry should be, it should be the
author's name, not the title, because if you use the title you get into the
problem of whether the alphabetization and link include initial articles
(a, the, la, les, etc.). Better to use something less subject to
interpretation (leaving aside the alphabetization of French and Dutch
names, which has its peculiarities!).

Let me know when the page is set up.
Jane McGary