23.3814, Disc: RE: Does editing matter?

[linguist at linguistlist.org]

LINGUIST List: Vol-23-3814. Wed Sep 12 2012. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 23.3814, Disc: RE: Does editing matter?

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Date: Wed, 12 Sep 2012 09:26:28
From: Jim Fidelholtz [fidelholtz at gmail.com]
Subject: RE: Does editing matter?

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Hi, All,

This is in reply to the discussion topic in Linguist List 23.3795, "Does
editing matter?". I think it is clear that editing *does* matter, at least
to many of us (as long as APA-style 'initialization' is *not* used, but
that's a different, though apparently still necessary, discussion). Bad
editing simply detracts from the readability, and therefore usability, of
the work.

Having said that, reviews on LL are helpful in general. But I have 
noticed another aspect of them which I do not like at all. That is the *lack* of
price information; as I recall, this was due to a conscious decision at LL
some years ago, which I did not like even then, and it is even less
acceptable to me currently. Such information is often useful or even
critical in the decision to buy a book or not. And it is *not* an argument
that the information can be gleaned by going to a link in the review (not
even always does the information pop up easily after going to the link--
but it should be available without links). And the fact that prices are not
necessarily stable is also not an argument -- one needs in any case to
compare prices before buying, and there are so many books being 
published now (and journals) that at least many of us need easy winnowing 
information (like a base price of over X hundred dollars, for example) to decide 
what to buy with limited resources. Changing or variable prices are not an
argument, since the date of the review gives us at least some point of
comparison for the price at that point.

Jim


Editors Note:  For several years, the LINGUIST List has included the 
prices of books in book announcements.  However, since there can be 
several editions of a single book with different prices or currencies, we 
made the decision not to include this information in the review itself, as 
book reviews are generally quite lengthy to begin with.



Linguistic Field(s): Not Applicable






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