by Anne Welsh and Associates
How would you like to support us AND independent book shops, just by buying books?
Some of you may remember that when we started our newsletter, Beginning Cataloguing Monthly, we looked for affiliate links that share our values.
Now we’re very happy to share that with Bookshop.org having entered the UK market, we have been able to set up an affiliate “shop” at https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/beginningcataloguing.
So far, we’ve added two lists:
Continue reading “Beginning Cataloguing Bookshop”
It’s been six months since Beginning Cataloguing opened for business, although we’d been gearing up and getting things ready for longer, of course. Today’s article provides a brief reflection on some things I’ve learned, in case they are of use to you.
We’ve made an important change to the way we link to some online book sites.
While investigating best practice for creating our newsletter, which will launch next month, we decided to introduce affiliate links. There’s a straightforward article about how these work on The Guardian website. Essentially, each time someone clicks on an affiliate link, we make a few pence.
Don’t worry – we’re not going down the road of product placement, shoe-horning links to, I don’t know, fishtanks or phishfood ice-cream into our writing. Several major book sites to which we link anyway – Abe, Abe UK, Betterworld Books, Foyles and Waterstones – offer affiliate links, and so all we’ve done is convert those. (See our book publications page for examples). We’re also not stopping linking to places that don’t offer affiliate links. Facet, who publish books by both Katharine Schopflin and me, will always be the first place we link for those books, and we’re still linking to WorldCat and other library catalogues.
The only change, from our point of view, is that when we link to Abe or Betterworld, for example, we’ll use the affiliate links they offer.
From your point of view, you should be aware that affiliate links use cookies. You can opt out of this here.
We continue to support independent bookshops, ordering directly from them where we can. However, I find Abe helpful to find rare books and, indeed, bookshops that are new to me. The books pictured in today’s shelfie were all tracked down via them this summer, when I had to replace the collection of old books that is still locked down in my old office, while campus is closed for Covid-19. I have supported Betterworld Books since it first launched, with its regular donations of books to others. It’s my preferred way to dispose of unwanted collections of textbooks, knowing most will find good homes.
I’ve commissioned Andy Horton (BPP University), who wrote his Masters thesis on corporate book donation schemes, to write a Beginnings article on this topic. I’m also commissioning some pieces on indies. If you have a favourite independent bookshop, especially if it trades in second-hand or rare books, and would like to submit a piece to the blog, do get in touch via email to find out about how we commission and remunerate guest posts.
If you have any concerns about our use of affiliate links, you can get in touch directly via info [at] beginningcataloguing.com
Addendum, 17 December 2020:
With the launch of bookshop.org in the UK, we have set up an affiliate “shop” at https://uk.bookshop.org/shop/beginningcataloguing.
Read more about it at https://beginningcataloguing.com/about-beginnings/beginning-cataloguing-bookshop.
Some of you have emailed to ask if we are planning on setting up a newsletter to help you keep up with our courses – newsletters work better for you than blogs, you say, because they land in your inbox.
We hear you! This is what we’ve replied to those of you kind enough to suggest this to us.
Firstly, thanks loads for being interested in our new venture and wanting to keep up with us. To answer your question: YES, I am planning a newsletter for Beginning Cataloguing, but it won’t be up and running until October.
Why so slow?
Continue reading “Monthly Roundup for You”
The Beginning Cataloguing Online School is now live and open for bookings on teachable.com. As it’s the first time we’re using the technology, our first offering is FREE.
Other events, including our first course, Beginning Bibliographic Models, open for booking next week.
This Summer, Beginning Cataloguing is delighted to host three masterclasses with our Associate Concetta La Spada, who is Senior Metadata Librarian at Cambridge University Press. As a librarian working in the publishing industry, Concetta uses a range of tools to maintain and update the press’s many online products.
Taking place via Zoom, each masterclass will consist of a presentation (20-25 minutes) followed by questions and discussion. They are an opportunity for you to find out more about the standards and tools Concetta is using, and also to let us know if there are any on which you would like her to run a “how to” class in future.
Continue reading “Live and Open for Booking”