CQ Researcher Report on Future of Books

Posted by Brenda Ellis

CQ Researcher is one of the resources the library subscribes to.  This week’s topic seems very relevant and timely for us. Quoting from their email announcement:

“Future of Books” by Sarah Glazer, May 29, 2009 Will traditional print books disappear?

The migration of books to electronic screens has been accelerating with the introduction of mobile reading on Kindles, iPhones and Sony Readers and the growing power of Google’s Book Search engine. Even the book’s form is mutating as innovators experiment with adding video, sound and computer graphics to text. Some fear a loss of literary writing and reading, others of the world’s storehouse of knowledge if it all goes digital. A recent settlement among Google, authors and publishers would make more out-of-print books accessible online, but some worry about putting such a vast trove of literature into the hands of a private company. So far, barely 1 percent of books sold in the United States are electronic. Still, the economically strapped publishing industry is under pressure to do more marketing and publishing online as younger, screen-oriented readers replace today’s core buyers – middle-aged women.

  • Will the Google Book Search settlement restrict public access to digital books?
  • Will traditional print books disappear from the marketplace?
  • Will literary reading and writing survive online?

To read the Overview of this week’s report, click here.
To view this week’s entire report on CQ Researcher Online, click here.

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