Table of Contents
Issue #4 as well as supplement added at the end.
Communication Research Trends:
Book Publishing in a Changing Environment
vol. 4 no. 4 1983
Research Trends in Religious Communication:
Reading, the Book, and Religion
vol. 4 no. 4 1983
Abstract
In 1982 Unesco held the first World Congress of Books in London. Its aim was to promote the idea of the 'reading society'. As if to underline ,he problem facing Unesco in achieving its aim, 1982 was also Information Technology Year in Britain. The juxtaposition of traditional and modern forms of communication is an apt symbol of the theme of this issue.
Since the time of Gutenberg the printed book has held a prominent place in the Western cultural and intellectual system. Today book production continues to increase around the world and developing countries are ever more anxious to combat illiteracy and to encourage reading. Yet in spite ofits success, the supporters of the printed book are anxious for its future.
Their anxiety is concentrated upon changes affecting the book publishing industry and the reading public. Critics see book publishing in developed countries becoming a mere adjunct to the mass media industries and the reading public becoming ever more fragmented and smaller. Third World publishing appears to be always in crisis, still dependent upon imported paper, technologies and ideas. The future threatens the decline of the book in the face of the new information technologies.
These and other issues are explored by this report on recent research on book publishing and reading under four headings: publishing in a time of cultural change, the reading public, Third World publishing, and the impact of new technologies.
Recommended Citation
(1983)
"Book Publishing in a Changing Environment,"
Communication Research Trends: Vol. 4:
No.
4, Article 1.
Available at:
https://scholarcommons.scu.edu/crt/vol4/iss4/1
