If you purchase a curriculum and find errors or omissions

[Susan in TN]

Do you contact the publishers / company? Do you do what you can to get it corrected if part of the materials have been left out or something is incorrect to the point that it can't be used?

 

I have a curriculum that I really love, but part of it (a small part of a suppliment) has some substantial mistakes in it. I've been in contact with them a couple of times over the summer about getting it fixed (it's an online thing). They've been polite, but they are starting to pass me around and I get the feeling that either they just don't understand the problem or since it's not the major part of the curriculum they are just not terribly interested in correcting it.

 

Now I'm wondering if I should just forget it or continue to try to get it corrected. I must have an aversion to being a squeaky wheel.

 

(P.S. Purposely not mentioning names)

[Harriet Vane]

I worked in publishing for seven years.

 

Yes, please contact the publisher IN WRITING about the errors. Keep your letter factual. List typos by page number and quote them in the body of your letter. You can also write the correction if you want. Another option if you're really motivated is to photocopy and mark your copy with the correction, and send that in.

 

Publishers are ever so grateful for this. Books are published with errors despite the care and attention shown by editors and proofreaders. I worked for one company in which each book was vetted by 1 editor, 3 copyeditors, 1 typesetter, and 2 proofreaders and we still found errors in the final published product.

 

The policy at most companies is to keep a file of noted errors and then fix the errors on the next print run. If you are dealing with errors on something you download, they might still choose not to address those errors one at a time. It may be more efficient for them to address errors after some months have elapsed.

[Laura Corin]

I have pointed out a series of errors in one answer book that I was using. The publisher was very happy to get the feedback, and sent me a copy of the corrected book when it was republished.

 

Laura

[Dana]

I've emailed Singapore, AAS, and Artistic Pursuits publishers when I find errors. They make notes and say they'll make corrections in future printings or post on their errata lists. I've also gotten quick responses back from them, so they're staying on top of things. I'll keep buying from them :)

 

I don't think I'd try more than once to get someone to take my corrections. And depending on how egregious the errors are, that might stop me from using their books in the future.

 

You can tell a lot about a company by how they handle mistakes.

[AngieW in Texas]

Yes.

 

My middle dd used Kinetic Books Algebra I when it was first released. We found 2 or 3 errors in their answer key and several problems that were worded ambiguously. They always responded to my emails by the next day (often responded within just a few hours). All the errors were corrected and the ambiguous problems were reworded in the next release of the software.