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Re: Ads in online journals, was: Re: CBC and Liblicense lis 

Isn't what we are talking about similar to the "free educational
television" being offered to public schools, which include advertising
directed at the students.  Some schools have accepted this and others have
rejected the "free" as too costly.  Legally I suppose they do not want to
appear to be endorsing some products and not others in case the others
decide to resent it.  On the other hand, we had a recent incident in the
news where where students were suspended for wearing Pepsi shirts on "Coke
Day" (the school was doing some sort of ad for its corporate sponsor, Coca
Cola). 

We already accept print products with advertisements in them, and
sometimes free products (such as in-house journals) that can be construed
as subtly pointing people to a more favorable view of certain companies. 
And we gladly accept "educational discounts" for products (print as well
as software) provided to get our students used to using certain products
(so that they are more likely to ask for these products when they get into
the workforce).  So I think a very fine line divides "endorsing" from
simply permitting advertising to take place within the broader context of
information retrieval.  I think the key may be what steps we take to
encourage students to "buy X" rather than simply not attempting to shield
them from advertisements.  Children are so bombarded by advertisements
from early youth that they tend to be very cynical about advertising
anyway. 


> Date:          Thu, 9 Apr 1998 18:24:16 -0400 (EDT)
> From:          Rick Anderson <rick_anderson@uncg.edu>
> To:            liblicense-l@lists.yale.edu
> Subject:       Re: Ads in online journals, was: Re: CBC and Liblicense list

> We seem to be using terms like "sponsorship" and "advertising" almost
> interchangeably here -- but am I wrong in thinking that the two are
> actually very different?  I'm thinking of the difference between the
> underwriting that you see with public broadcasting (where sponsors are
> mentioned and their products or services described, but there's little or
> no "hyping" of the product itself) and the advertising that you see on
> commercial TV or in magazines.  I'd feel more comfortable about seeing the
> former in online journals than the latter, although I'm not sure I can
> justify that feeling philosophically -- after all, most of the print
> magazines and many of the journals we provide to patrons are full of
> traditional advertising, so why should anyone expect an electronic product
> to be different? 
> 
> ----------------------
> Rick Anderson
> Jackson Library
> UNC Greensboro
> 1000 Spring Garden St.
> Greensboro, NC 27402-6175
> (336) 334-5281
> rick_anderson@uncg.edu


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