LibGuides: Future of Books: Background Information

Background Information

Humans have been using print to communicate for at least 500 years and while some think the future of the printed book is in peril, others believe that the format is not going anywhere in the near future. At the heart of the debate are questions about the importance of, and future of, literacy, intellectual discourse, and copyright law.

CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
Provides topic overviews, background, current issues, and bibliographies for further research.

Gale Encyclopedia of E-Commerce
Entries on "Amazon.com," "Barnesandnoble.com," and "E-books" give history of online bookselling industry, including print and digital books, and how this industry has affected brick-and-mortar stores.
Encyclopedia of Emerging Industries
Entry on "Electronic Publishing" discusses the advent and implications of this movement.
Encyclopedia of Education
Useful entries on topics related to the future of the book such as literacy (traditional and multimedia), learning from multimedia sources, and learning and the internet.