[Ads-l] Incorrect dates displayed in Internet Archive scans

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Thanks for your responses, Rich and JL. I have hesitated to mention
this topic because the environment is punitively litigious for
databases such as the Internet Archive and Google Books. I agree with
JL that this type of error is rare.
Garson

On Mon, Oct 26, 2026 at 4:31 PM Jonathan Lighter
<00001aad181a2549-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> I've seen this problem in Internet Archive as well, but only once or
> twice in thousands of instances.
>
> JL
>
> On Mon, Oct 26, 2026 at 1:52 PM Rich Lowenthal
> <000018596069864c-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
> >
> > The initial copyright date is also incorrect: "1910" rather than "1960."
> >
> > There are also leather-bound copies of the book available on the
> > Internet that cite the 1916 date. I would guess that the incorrect date
> > is the result of poor scanning and OCR work, as is the case of many
> > print-on-demand titles that come from India. The scanned copy also
> > differs from the first edition in that it lacks the "all rights
> > reserved" notice on the copyright page.
> >
> >
> > ------ Original Message ------
> > From "ADSGarson O'Toole"
> > <00001aa1be50b751-dmarc-request at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > To ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> > Date 10/26/2026 12:40:27 PM
> > Subject Incorrect dates displayed in Internet Archive scans
> >
> > >While searching in the Internet Archive I came across a novel with an
> > >incorrect publication date. It is common to find mistakes in the
> > >metadata of databases such as the Internet archive, Google Books,
> > >newspapers.com, etc. But this situation was different and more
> > >dangerous. The incorrect data appeared on a page scan of the book that
> > >was supposed to display the correct publication data.
> > >
> > >The novel "A Burnt-Out Case" by Graham Greene was first published in
> > >1960, but the publication date on the scan claimed that the book was
> > >published in 1916.
> > >
> > >Incorrect Date on Page Scan: 1916
> > >Actual First Publication Date: 1960
> > >Book Title: A Burnt-Out Case
> > >Author: Graham Greene
> > >Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd, London
> > >Book Source: Digital Library of India
> > >https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.150016/page/n3/mode/2up?q=1916
> > >
> > >[Begin excerpt]
> > >This English language edition first published 1916
> > >[End excerpt]
> > >
> > >I think (and hope) this problem is rare. Have others seen this
> > >problem? Can someone offer an explanation (on or off list)?
> > >Garson
> > >
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