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.

Author Biography

Dr Bill Cope has been a Director of Common Ground Publishing since 1984. Common Ground runs a number of annual conferences in education, management and the humanities. He is a former academic working in a number of Australian universities, and a First Assistant Secretary in the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and Director of the Office of Multicultural Affairs. He is the author of a number of books, including (with Dean Mason) New Markets for Printed Books: Emerging Markets for Books, From Creator to Consumer (2002). Angus Phillips is Director of the Oxford International Centre for Publishing Studies and Head of the Publishing Department at Oxford Brookes University. He worked in publishing as a non-fiction editor before becoming a full-time academic. He is a member of the International Advisory Committee for the International Conference on the Book (held at Oxford Brookes in 2005) and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the International Journal of the Book. He has written on a variety of topics including the impact of the Internet, book covers and the future of the book.