The author of Publishing on the Internet calls this work a “briefing”, and in it attempts to answer various questions which are important to would‐be electronic publishers. How can publishers take advantage of the Internet and exploit the new medium? Exactly how are some innovators already creating new sources of revenue? Is there really a place for traditional publishers in the decentralised networked world, and what are the threats to information ownership? Such questions obviously concern publishers, but are also relevant to printers, distributors, writers, retailers, librarians, and others connected with the publishing sector. They would also be of interest to consumers of published information, although I doubt whether many included in this last category would be prepared to pay the £95 asking price for this 160‐page work.
The Internet is an intriguing medium, and different from traditional ones which tend to be organised on a top‐down basis and firmly rooted in specific serial processes. Many publishers must be perplexed by the Net. Because it is relatively easy to make material available, tens of thousands of organisations and individuals are doing so, and not only this, but the present culture expects that most networked information should be supplied at no cost to the consumer. Unlike printed publications, information on the Internet can sometimes move through a complete life‐cycle in a matter of minutes. In the opening chapters, Arnold addresses such issues and does so in an eminently quotable way. Take the following, for example: “The Internet operates in fast‐cycle time; everything accelerates”; “Network publishing is fractal, following the rules of living things”; and “The anomie and ennui of modern life become digitally energised”. He follows this with an examination of what he calls “pacesetter sites”. These are Web sites which have been successful in attracting many visitors and include Infoseek, Point, the United Nations Tradepoint Development Centre (UNTPDC), the Internet Underground Music Association (IUMA), and Time‐Warner’s Pathfinder. The analyses are too brief to act as success case studies but allow him to make useful generalisations about content, style, and development.
Inevitably in what at times resembles a market survey, Arnold looks at Internet demographics. More interesting is the way he relates networked communication patterns to the structure of Internet publishing where the only glue holding the process together is the network itself. He suggests answers to the $64,000 question of how a publisher can make money from the Internet, and he sensibly adds a warning that a high mortality rate awaits the many companies rushing to establish Internet businesses. Also on Arnold’s agenda is an overview of the software available for publishing and viewing. He looks at browsers, HTML authoring tools, image editing and conversion aids, Java, live audio, VRML, and video, and then turns his attention to network technology and security.
Throughout the briefing Arnold appears to digress into areas not normally associated with the topic in hand, such as the criteria used for valuing an Internet‐related company. This is because he defines Internet publishing in broad terms. Any information which is made available over the networks can be regarded as being published. While this makes for an interesting, wide‐ranging, and well‐researched book by a knowledgable author, its corollary is that some relevant subjects such as copyright, distribution, promotion, and editorial control, receive limited attention. I would also have liked more of his views on the future of electronic journals and newspapers.
Completing the briefing is a useful glossary and an index which could be improved. Publishing on the Internet is a worthwhile purchase for libraries and contains much useful information about the complicated network publishing environment which, as is pointed out, exists in multiple dimensions. I was pleased to see that although based in America, the author did not concentrate solely on the US situation, and in fact showed a good awareness of the global situation.
