I got the following e-mail from the Harvard Library today:
A request you have placed:
Title: The catnip response /by Neil Bowman Todd. The catnip response /by Neil Bowman Todd. Na Volume / issue: / Date: 1963 Pages: All Article Author:
Article Title: Na ISSN:TN: 4621933 has been cancelled by the Resource Sharing staff for the following reason:
Scan&Deliver: Exceeds copyright: more than 10% of the work or issue
An entire item cannot be scanned in its entirety due to copyright law. You may be able to obtain a full scan for a fee >from Imaging Services: http://library.harvard.edu/university-archives/using-the-collections/reproductions#Copies-of->Theses,-Dissertations,-Prize-Papers
Read more information about the Scan&Deliver service here: http://lib.harvard.edu/scan-deliver If you have a question about this cancelled item, please respond directly to this email with the Transaction Number >4621933.
Thank you,
Harvard Library Resource Sharing - Countway Library
I am not sure what is going on here: Since it is a Harvard thesis, they presumably hold the copyright themselves. I know they will make my own thesis available for free after a one-year embargo. This seems more like an excuse to not have to scan it manually
Ouch. That is weird. Perhaps there's something historical going on where they used to let Harvard students keep their own copyright but a few decades ago changed it to demand copyright, which is why they can't scan the entirety of an old thesis like Todd's. Hm. You could try replying and asking why they can't scan a Harvard thesis given your personal experience.
If that doesn't work and the other guy can't help, I wonder what I could do. Leaving that thesis out is a really big gap in the literature... Going to Harvard physically with a scanner is not an opt...
Over the last year, VincentYu, gwern and others have provided many papers for the LessWrong community (87% success rate in 2012) through previous help desk threads. We originally intended to provide editing, research and general troubleshooting help, but article downloads are by far the most requested service.
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