I've Got a Bone to Pick with BNA Books

So ... on May 31st, I received a mass email titled "Check Out Bloomberg BNA's 2012-2013 Books Catalog" that stated in part:

The 2012–2013 Books Catalog can be viewed online (pdf file), or you can request a print copy by calling 1.800.960.1220 or emailing books@bna.com.

(Emphasis added; Link to PDF file omitted for reasons stated below.)

Fine with me. Let's save some trees. I downloaded a copy of the PDF to my desktop. Over the course of a couple of days, I scraped the usual content -- title, price, order number and bunded order numbers -- from the PDF into a text file for reviewing possible purchases, bundled or not. Then I searched the PDF for the order forms which the catalog's TOC listed as being in the "center." Not there. To make absolutely certain because I have little short-term memory working, I printed out the entire 60-page PDF on June 11th. Nope, not in the PDF.

While waiting for the print job to be completed, I left the library, ordered a Black Eye at the local coffee shop, and smoked a cigarette. When I returned, the 60 page print job was still spitting out pages but one of my colleagues said "we just received two copies of the sales catalog in the mail and I put one in your office."

Aaargh! Sure enough, the order form were stapled in the center of the p-version of the sales catalog plus there was a letter insert that identified a discount code for non-bundled purchases. In our little county law library, that non-bundled discount offer was important since my wish list of titles were not bundle-able because either we already had the related titles or didn't want them. So, who at BNA Books blindly pushed the Make PDF button without adding both to it?

At least, when I executed a phone order for a couple of BNA Book titles later, BNA Books' customer service was excellent as usual. But I think someone at the Company owes me for the cost of the 60 page printout. Had the order forms and inserted letter been included in the PDF, that's all I would have printed out ahead of executing my order.

Finally and for the secord or third time (meaning I have forgotten how many times I have tried to call this to the Company's attention), will someone in the ad copy department put down his or her coffee and revise the author entry for "Fairweather’s Practice and Procedure in Labor Arbitration," 4th ed., Ray J. Schoonhoven, Editor, before next year's sales catalog! It reads:

Ray J. Schoonhoven, now retired, was a partner in Seyfarth Shaw, Chicago, IL, where he specialized in employment law and labor relations

It should read:

Ray J. Schoonhoven (deceased) was a partner in Seyfarth Shaw, Chicago, IL, where he specialized in employment law and labor relations.

Luckily the editorial quality of the books I ordered will be better than the PDF production and ad copy quality of BNA Books' sales catalog. Time for a video. It is captioned "This is what happens when I have a spare 30 minutes." Obviously, the creator wasn't busy with BNA Books-related collection development matters. [JH]

July 5, 2012 Update. Fixed now.