Books in the Digital Age

The book publishing industry is going through a period of profound and turbulent change brought about in part by the digital revolution. What is the role of the book in an age preoccupied with computers and the internet? How has the book publishing industry been transformed by the economic and technological upheavals of recent years, and how is it likely to change in the future? This is the first major study of the book publishing industry in Britain and the United States for more than two decades. Thompson focuses on academic and higher education publishing and analyses the evolution of these sectors from 1980 to the present. He shows that each sector is characterized by its own distinctive 'logic' or dynamic of change, and that by reconstructing this logic we can understand the problems, challenges and opportunities faced by publishing firms today. He also shows that the digital revolution has had, and continues to have, a profound impact on the book publishing business, although the real impact of this revolution has little to do with the ebook scenarios imagined by many commentators.

Books in the Digital Age will become a standard work on the publishing industry at the beginning of the 21st century. It will be of great interest to students taking courses in the sociology of culture, media and cultural studies, and publishing. It will also be of great value to professionals in the publishing industry, educators and policy makers, and to anyone interested in books and their future.

Auteur

John Thompson is Professor of Sociology at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Jesus College, Cambridge.

Contenu

List of figures and tables. Preface.

Introduction.

Part I The Publishing Business.

Publishing as an economic and cultural practice.

The social structure of publishing fields.

The publishing field since 1980.

Part II The Field of Academic Publishing.

Academic publishing under pressure.

Academic publishing in transition (1): changing organizational cultures.

Academic publishing in transition (2): list diversification and field migration.

Academic publishing at the crossroads.

Part III The Field of Higher Education Publishing.

Higher education publishing in the US (1): the formation of the field.

Higher education publishing in the US (2): the differentiation of the field.

Higher education publishing in the UK.

Globalization and localization in the UK field of higher education publishing.

Part IV The Digital Revolution.

The digital revolution and the publishing world.

Academic publishing and the digital revolution.

Higher education publishing and the digital revolution.

The hidden revolution: reinventing the life cycle of the book.

Conclusion.

Appendix on research methods.

Bibliography.

Index.