Blasphemy law in Pakistan: apostasy in Islam,
Blasphemy, freedom of religion in Pakistan. Fredrick P. Miller, Agnes
F.Vandome, John McBrewster USA: Alphascript. 2010.
It looks like a
real book and, problem is, it still is a real book.
Even though we
draw draw attention to the fact that according to the verso of the title page
"All parts of this book are extracted from Wikipedia" does this mean
that all of those parts are still on Wikipedia in 2014, four years later?
What if more has
been added since? What if some of the parts have been removed from Wikipedia,
or edited in the meantime? Alphascript’s book becomes a capsule in time. Parts
of it may be invaluable to the discussion of blasphemy law in Pakistan, if the
laws have changed.
Then we have the
problem of verifiability of information on Wikipedia itself. Is a book that is
proudly Wikipedia through-and-through in fact a book we want on our shelves?
Should a label be slapped on the front ‘User beware’?
The librarian
faced with the choice of wanting to order this book has the dilemma too of this
being about the only text directly on the subject. While she or he may be wary
of ordering a Wikipedia-sourced book, it may have material that is nowhere
else, not even any longer on Wikipedia.
Warnings about
these scams (the word is more like opportunisms) have been expressed increasingly
in recent years. Sometimes the publisher’s name is a giveaway, if it’s new, or
has a small i as the first letter of the name.
The other sign
is the cover. If the publisher uses the same image for most of its book covers
then a rat is being detected. Scottish glens covered in heather, 18th
century timepieces, and the Roman Colosseum are three favourites of these
outfits. Alphascript seem to be aware that this is a giveaway, to scan some of
their publications on Amazon. They appear to be lifting relevant images off the
net. We find too that the authors Frederic P. Miller, Agnes F. Vandome, and
John McBrewster have an encyclopedic knowledge across subjects that puts them
way beyond the range of mere mortals.
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