The so‐called digital revolution, with its transformative embrace of information content, use, and dissemination, has been in the sights of librarians since its first implication‐rich manifestations. Indeed, given the bounded relationship of library work with many of its changes, it was inevitable that the naturally inquisitive librarian would confront, expound upon, celebrate or decry, and attempt to predict the revolution's directions. Treatises and tracts on this subject, by librarians, for librarians, are many.
New Thinking for 21st‐century Publishers: Emerging Patterns and Evolving Stratagems by Joost Kist offers a standpoint that most librarians will have limited exposure to, that of the professional publisher. But like librarians, publishers have been forced to reckon with the often unanticipated impacts of the rapidly evolving information industry. They have much to add to the discourse. And although the author left the globally influential publisher Wolters Kluwer in 1990, before the advent of playing field disruptors like Google and Amazon, he offers studied views on the subject from a long professional affiliation.
The aim of the book is to gain a sober understanding of the fundamental economic and technological forces that the publishing industry must face up to and leverage for continued success, if not for its own survival. The author fulfills this objective with clarity and knowing scrutiny. He emphasizes the central paradigm of interactivity, specifically as it is experienced through the Internet‐based delivery of electronic publishing products (which can contain any type of informational content). Interactivity, between publisher and consumer, and author and reader, leads to new business models, distribution channels, and user functions. In six short chapters and three appendices, Kist succinctly analyzes these challenges to the publisher's place in the information value chain.
The Introduction sketches the determining factors of this “new competitive landscape.” The author sees a growing importance in the convergence of digital television, the mobile telephone, and the Internet/personal computers. This situation is bringing remarkable possibilities for connectivity, data storage, and presentational quality, not to mention revenue streams. These introductory pages clearly lay down Kist's main conclusions regarding the publishing industry in this transitional period.
Chapter 1 gives a brief descriptive chronology of disseminated knowledge, from pre‐printing memory training in ancient history to the world wide web. This focused synopsis establishes the publishing enterprise as maintaining an enduring place in the information value chain. Kist compares the traditional ways of publishing knowledge to contemporary digital methods, with a spotlight on distributed publishing and printing on demand. He makes the excellent observations that digital media is not the same as digital writing, and that “different messages favour different media” and “different media favour different content” (pp. 31‐32).
Kist elaborates on the dynamic aspects of data, information, and knowledge in Chapter 2. The consumer now has an extraordinary level of choices in what information products to purchase and how to use them. Unprecedented interactivity between user and creator, the rise of self‐publishing, broadly defined, and increased market segmentation will force publishers to reexamine their place in the value chain. As Kist convincingly argues, this self‐evaluation must center on the goals of enhanced value and innovative usability that publishers can bring to their products.
The next chapter defines electronic publishing and stresses its arresting influence on the blurring of author and publisher roles and relationships. This leads the author to an interesting discussion of the significance of reading strategies and readability in the context of the digital medium. Unfortunately, between the two above themes, Chapter 3 is interrupted by the author's use of an “information forest” metaphor and its attendant collection of various birds that represent different types of information users. For example, the Dodo is equated with the old‐school bibliophile; the Owl is like a deep‐thinking researcher. This section is filled with drawings of men and women dressed as the various birds. I found this to be an unnecessary distraction.
Chapter 4 addresses several of the industry forces and dilemmas that publishers must contend with, such as narrowcasting, search system dominance, multiple pricing models, and branding. Kist does not flinch when he forecasts that electronic publishing is the future of information provision and that the Internet will be its main conduit. He asserts that, when it comes to information products, eventually, “the web product… will become the master version.”
In Chapter 5, Kist submits his impressions of successful innovators in the industry. He then lays out his recommendations for the “21st‐century” publisher. Among other things, publishers must accept and exploit the fact that distinct audiences, age groups, and media need to be approached differently; that information use has considerable non‐rational features; and that users have high expectations when it comes to deciding what data and systems are relevant to and suitable for their needs.
In the short last chapter, a final call to publishers to reinvent themselves raises questions relating to the perception of information delivery, the long‐term economic and political effects of digital creation and delivery, outsourcing, and the “new literacy.” Three appendices flesh out the author's foregoing affirmations. The first comments on the successful innovations of Brill publishers and Google; the second looks at the open access model; and the third applies some of the insights of Marshall McLuhan to the author's personal experience of publishing innovations.
New Thinking for 21st‐century Publishers: Emerging Patterns and Evolving Stratagems is a well‐versed examination of a vantage point in the information value chain that is often underrepresented. However, its size, formatting, and price (£39.95) together give me pause in recommending it as a purchase. At 151 pages, it contains about 40 rather large illustrations and a sizable typeface. Many of the drawings and flow charts (several from the early 1990s) take up more space than they are worth. In addition, the author's 2006 article of the same title (Kist, 2006) in Logos is incorporated into the book almost verbatim. This book's substance could have fit comfortably into a white paper or long journal article. It is a valuable contribution from a key stakeholder, but to justify its price, it would need to eliminate the pictorial filler and add more prose value.
