Rate this book

Il Futuro Del Libro (2009)

by Robert Darnton(Favorite Author)

3.31 of 5 Votes: 1

ISBN

8845925862 (ISBN13: 9788845925863)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Adelphi

review 1: Despite the general title, Darnton's collection of essays deals mainly with research libraries and scholarly publishing (he is the director of Harvard's library after all). He discusses Google Book Search and Harvard's open access program. Darnton enlightened me on the cost of journal subscriptions. Many, especially the scientific ones, cost over $20,000.00 a year (and no that is not a typo). Libraries that once devoted 50% of their budget to acquiring books now spend 25% or less. This means that university presses are publishing far less. Scholars who need to be published in order to advance their careers, are finding it increasingly difficult. Darnton suggests e-publishing as a possible solution and sees a world where e-books and monographs coexist for some time to come.... more I'm always a little disappointed when a writer puts out a book of previously published essays (Chabon excepted of course), but it's worth a read if you are interested in book history - especially the last three chapters.
review 2: I loved his essays in the NYRB, which are collected here, as I read them, but seeing them all collected together at once was not as effective as reading them in real time over a longer period. Some of the material is already out-of-date (with the most recent google books settlement shaking out). Ironically for a book about books and their endurance, this should not have been collected as a book, but left as a series of essays. Or it should have been an e-book or tablet book with links to updated information, legal cases and so on. But these cavils aside, everything Darnton writes is worth reading. I am glad I own this book. less

Download links for: Il futuro del libro

Advertising