ABSTRACT
Discussions of the new technology and its impact on publishing have often centered on technical issues, such as the methods of incorporating specific hardware into systems so as to maximize efficiency in the production and dissemination of books and periodicals. 1 Other discussions have been concerned with the implications for traditional book and periodical publishing of such matters as the impact of xerography on copyright and the use of word processing equipment to increase control over costs of composition. This chapter will emphasize the impact of new technologies, not simply on the publishing industry as it now exists, but with respect to its consequences for the social structure of the publishing business. How is the new information technology changing the fundamental character of author-publisher-marketplace relations? 2
