The Future of the Book in the Digital Age

by Bill Cope (Editor)

With contributions from some of the world's leading authorities, this publication considers the future of the book in the digital age. As more books are published than ever before, this timely publication addresses a range of critically important themes relating to the book - including the present and future for publishing, libraries, literacy and learning in the information society. In the early 1990s the printed word appeared to be facing a terminal crisis, threatened from all sides by new media and other forms of entertainment. Subsequently the book has proved to be resilient in the face of these challenges, confounding the predictions of those who saw its replacement, whilst digital technology is providing mechanisms that enhance our ability to produce and distribute printed books. New developments, such as the growth of self-publishing and print on demand, and initiatives from major players such as Amazon and Google, mean that the printed book is in the middle of great changes.

248 pages, Paperback

First published October 11, 2006

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

More interesting than I thought it would be! Very informative and I liked the statistics shown. This book is even more relevant in current times, but I tried to read with a 2006 perspective.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book started well and I found it was interesting, unfortunately bits of the last couple articles made me very angry and it kind of coloured my perception of the whole thing. The book is a collection of different essays by publishers, librarians and others. I enjoyed the first few essays which looked at how the internet, and digital publishing, is changing the face of printing and publishing. How now books with a smaller audience can be printed and published at reasonable cost. There were essays that looked at the effect of internet bookshops on physical bookshops, the price of first editions, and the variety of books available for print. For someone who has an obscure academic interest and has to buy all the books in my research area online, the fact that people were even questioning that the internet provided a greater variety of books surprised me. There were articles about whether or not people were reading less or more. Interestingly one of the articles mentioned how people who spent more time online spent less time watching television. The articles written by librarians were a bit more disappointing; one was just a history of libraries in the United States. The other contained the “fact” that the first printed book ever was made in 1450 by Gutenberg. Nothing pisses me off more than the ignorance of Europeans on this matter. I have been to the British Library and seen a Dated Printed Book that’s over 500 years OLDER than this! What especially bothered me about this was in the introduction the author’s credited China with early printing, why they let this statement stand I don’t understand. Part of me now wants to write my dissertation on the effects of printing in China and get it published in the library and history journal, just to stop idiots writing things like this. To make it worse the rest of the article was about globalisation, and how printing when invented by Europeans then took “the world” by storm! Now with the invention of the internet something that would have only a small audience, (a modern Chinese poem!) would be able to be distributed online. Some people’s cultural ignorance is really astounding. Overall I did enjoy the book, the last few essays nonwithstanding, it did have some good points. Ironically in a book that was all about how niche market books can be made available cheaply, this was a soft cover book that goes for £37 on Amazon!!! I’m glad I was able to borrow it from the library at work.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

There were some interesting and unexpected insights in this edited collection, particularly as it attempted to chronicle such a broad swath of the book's contemporary fate (though I think it somehow managed to do so without ever explicitly mentioning Darnton's book circuit?). Perhaps this latter omission is because very few of the individual chapters did more than attempt to look at a small slice. And, while some of these slices were interesting and well rendered, others seemed lacking. These lacks weren't compensated for by the editing of this collection, which seemed to be arranged in a totally haphazard way that wasn't ever explained in the preface to the volume. All of this combined with the fact that much of the "contemporary" data is already obsolete probably means that this is a volume that is worth reading selectively rather than in its totality.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

The 15 essays in the book offer the reader a varied view of how the world of books is changing thanks to digital technology. The book examines changes in library science, book publishing, and book consumption. The reader gets a distinct feeling while reading the essays of the ground shifting under their feet and I think that's the purpose of these essays. The essays are a mixed bag, but the two essays on book consumption in Europe are a rare treat in subject matter usually focused on the US or UK markets. This is ideal for those subscribers of Publishing Research Quarterly, in other words, for serious book geeks only.