Digital textbooks might be less cumbersome. But a new series of studies finds that reading from screens can hamper our ability to process and retain information.
Despite dire predictions, bookstores are doing well: they are curators of taste and community hubs. But their challenges are many – from the arrival of Amazon Down Under to a ‘post-truth’ climate that devalues knowledge.
Reports of the decline of the eBook are premature. The publishing industry is changing rapidly and data that appears robust tells us less than it once did.
When you borrow a paper book from a library, authors get a small royalty, which is their second most important source of income. Yet if you borrowed an e-book tomorrow, the author would get nothing.
E-book sales are falling, even though many said they would “kill” print books. Computers and television were also supposed to spell the book’s demise. At one point, people even feared the phonograph.
With the surge in e-books and digital devices, one concern has been whether students are learning as much. Research shows that some crucial elements of learning are indeed being lost.
While technological advances have rendered some products obsolete, they’ve also spurred the growth of niche markets that cater to people looking to reject mass-produced goods.
The Book Council of Australia began to take shape last week when MUP director Louise Adler was announced as its chair. But what is its purpose, and how will it embrace the industry’s new voices?
Victor Hugo famously claimed the invention of the printing press destroyed the edifice of the gothic cathedral. Others fear the internet age will eventually destroy the novel. But guess what? It won’t.