The Future of the Book in the Digital Age

Citation

Yeates, R. (2007), "The Future of the Book in the Digital Age", Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 41 No. 2, pp. 187-189. https://doi.org/10.1108/00330330710742980

If the individual's perception of happiness lies on a spectrum from pleasure through personal fulfillment to something more spiritual, then the concept of the book stretches from a type of unique work of art through mass‐produced objects to something more virtual (less virtuous?). Most people probably feel more comfortable with definitions at the physical end of the spectrum, having to struggle with the indistinctness of the present virtual environment, let alone its future. So, I can confidently state that this is a review of a book about the future of the book.

The preface explains that this is a collection of papers from around the world given at the Third International Conference on the Book, held in Oxford in September 2005. The event explored how the new media relate to earlier published forms of expression. This masterly preface by the editors is a fitting introduction, explaining and intriguing in equal measure.

As befits a work about prediction, it then begins by establishing the credentials of the 20 authors, devoting some six pages to their potted biographies. These fascinate in their variety, ranging from a philosopher to an ex‐printer's apprentice, businessmen, sociologists and professors of English and librarianship, as well as experts in mass communication, language and education.

The following introduction, written by the editors, begins by reporting the results of a survey showing the decline of reading and the increased use of electronic media, at a time when more books are being published than ever before. The editors discuss the evolution of technologies for creating books and the book as technology. Distinctions between the diverse forms of print appear to be blurring, but the editors suggest that although the climate for traditional publishing is bad, the industry is also ripe for change as a result.

The next part of the introduction provides a chapter overview, which is exceptionally thoughtful and reads unusually coherently for such a work. Often such books contain what appear to be a random collection of pieces with little common thread and much repetition – this is not the case here. The writing is clear, but not simplistic. Evidence is presented or the lack of it apparently rigorously examined. Even the popular student verb “to Google” is defined clearly in a footnote, in case future readers are confused as a result of the rapid changes in the Google, let alone Internet, environment.

For many students, the physical book and journal are simply irrelevant, supplanted by Web‐based resources, according to Mark Perlman. Could book printing technology become sufficiently economical to offer a personalised alternative or adjunct to the Internet? Manfred Breede presents some fascinating costings and concludes that technical advance will continue to increase the diversity of titles available in print. Then Angus Phillips considers where the value in the publishing chain really lies and how new realistic opportunities for self‐publishing should lead publishers to reconsider how they can add value in new ways. Christopher Kular goes into more detail on book production workflows for self‐publishing, royalties and the benefits of editorial review.

All this takes up only a third of the book. We then shift from the publishing process to the environmental factors, beginning with a riveting tour, by Mihael Kovac and Mojca Kovac Sebart, of statistics relating the patterns of book consumption in Europe, insofar as they exist and are comparable. What seems surprising to this reviewer is the paucity of information on such a crucial aspect of books – who reads them, where and why? Why are there so few historical sources comparing book consumption across countries, whether based on libraries, home purchasing or collective acquisition, and not just considering the number of titles published or sold? As so often is the case, the collation of some information here begs these questions and many more and should lead to more evidence‐based research. The evidence here shows that there is a statistical link between book usage, competitiveness and efficiency of education throughout the European Union – not a bad start.

Results from a study of the effect of new media on reading patterns in Israel are followed by a chapter on marketing strategies and consumer responses in UK chain bookshops, considering such issues as the effect of coffee shop provision and “3 for 2” offers: evidence of responses to strategies that is of interest to many librarians and which derives from part of a rare academic investigation during ongoing doctoral research by Audrey Laing with Jo Royle.

Diversity, or the lack of it in the range of available titles, are discussed in relation to bookselling in Sweden and then a piece on opportunities for new authors. There is even an unusual piece on the different authorial intentions of audio books and the effect of abridgements, something which may become more widespread in other forms of book publishing.

At something of a tangent, Maureen Brunsdale and Jennifer Hootman consider somewhat less convincingly the past, present and future of librarianship (states the subtitle of their chapter). Their emphasis is on “instructional reference” services, which, they point out, must evolve by finding new ways to intervene for students who appear reluctant to seek help. John Feather looks from an academic library perspective at issues of technology, content and cost as well as the more subtle changes in the relationships between authors, readers, librarians and publishers.

Mark Woodhouse has the final word. We have now left behind the comfort zone of facts prevalent in the first half of this volume. He compares George W. Bush's dismissal of a journalist's discernible reality with the authenticity beloved of Mark Twain. We can't help thinking this work raises more questions than answers about the future. The answers lie in the book.