Web sites accompanying textbooks

[Stephen Cramond <stephen.cramond@adelaide.edu.au>]

Greetings, and apologies for cross-postings....

We are not sure how to handle the increasing number of books which come
with associated web sites.  The big publishers [eg Pearson's and their
associated imprints, such as Addison-Wesley] list hundreds of textbook
titles with web sites. These sites appear to have some or all of the text
online, and include links to additional web resources, online chat rooms
etc etc. In other words, they seem to offer extra resources that we would
like our users to know about and to use.

It seems fairly clear from the language used at these Web sites that the
publishers are assuming that the books are being bought by individuals
[students or instructors], rather than by libraries or institutions.  
Thus far, therefore, we usually indicate on our catalogue records that the
book in question has an associated web site without actually linking to
the site.

This is OK as far as it goes, at least where the web site imposes no
restrictions on who can access the site, and makes no attempt to require
authentication.

It is not so clear to us, however, where we stand when the book provides
the purchaser with what [one suspects] is a single user registration code
with which to establish a username and password to access the site.  We
don't want to leave it for the first lucky borrower to register and have
the use of the web site exclusively, but if we register and create a
userid/password should we then make it legitimately available for all
users. Alternatively, do we register simply to investigate the site to
establish what we can and can't do and write back to the publisher seeking
clarification?

As a case in point, we have just bought Vander's 'Human Physiology' 8th
ed., published by McGraw-Hill. The associated web site, although it
assumes users have bought the book, is apparently available to all comers.
However, the book also includes a flyer offering the purchaser the chance
to register online for a resource that would 'add value' to their
purchase. This turned out to be the 3rd ed of a related work called 'Case
Histories in Human Physiology'. It became clear at this point that the
prospective registrants had to be purchasers of the book to get access,
and if they weren't they needed to purchase a password to get access.

Clearly, then, there are unsuspected complexities and, potentially, a lot
of work to continually investigate what any given web site might offer,
and to whom.  So, before we begin the process of systematically contacting
publishers, we would be very pleased to hear from libraries that have
shared our interest in letting their users know about and use these 'books
with accompanying web sites'. We would like to know what problems you have
encountered, and what responses you have had from publishers about the
legitimacy of sharing userid/password information for these sites.

Many thanks in anticipation.

--
Regards,

Steve Cramond 
Electronic Information Resources Librarian
University of Adelaide Library 

eMail: stephen.cramond@adelaide.edu.au
Phone: +61 8 8303 3629
Fax: +61 8 8303 4369
Postal Address: Adelaide University Library, 
Adelaide SA 5005,
Australia