Papers by Suzanne Wilson-Higgins
The Impact of Print-On-Demand on Academic Books
The book has three parts and this is the first chapter in Part 3: Forecasts and trends in print-o... more The book has three parts and this is the first chapter in Part 3: Forecasts and trends in print-on-demand for academic publishing (2018–25). This chapter reviews four trends in book manufacturing: first is the fact that printing books using digital print technology using digital workflow technologies is set to increase. So there will be more volume of digitally printed books printed and there will be more custom books within that corpus; second, there will be more standards issued by the printing research and trade organisations to ensure consistency and quality as the number of printers engaged in digital print explodes; third, there are technological developments in the wider printing industry that will come to impact on-demand book manufacturing namely even better colour, more flexibility regarding papers, and finishing developments like inline binding and coatings for embellishments; and fourth, waste reduction is increasingly important both politically and to the printing and p...
The book has three parts and this is the first chapter in Part 3: Forecasts and trends in print o... more The book has three parts and this is the first chapter in Part 3: Forecasts and trends in print on-demand for academic publishing (2018–2025). This chapter looks at some trends identified by recent studies regarding the use of academic books and associated publishing strategies. Specifically there are three trends taking place in academic publishing, which will impact the print-on-demand book: more ‘digital first’ academic books with optional print-on-demand editions, more integrated book publishing ecosystems enabled by digital technologies and more publishing services that offer author-centric platforms, new technologies affecting the physical book, more multimedia and more custom books. The chapter concludes with an interview in 2017 with Gareth Jarrett, Director of Books, Taylor & Francis, an Informa company based in the United Kingdom. He reflects on their huge print-on-demand program and how it has developed, limitations and the benefits. There follows another interview conduc...
Part 2 of this book has three chapters concerning print-on-demand today: normalised, commoditised... more Part 2 of this book has three chapters concerning print-on-demand today: normalised, commoditised, and adopted, print-on-demand for books today (2015–17). This is the second chapter of part 2 and concentrates on those academic books used in higher education and professional development which are referred to as textbooks in the sense of a standard work or manual for instruction, i.e. books typically used in undergraduate and professional development teaching. Print-on-demand has had an impact on this sphere of publishing in three ways: first, the compilation of coursepacks where different texts by numerous authors are brought together by a lecturer or professor for teaching purposes; second, the commissioning of an original textbook which might be have regional variants or can be customised by the lecturer with their own notes; and finally, as a printed companion to a learning environment which might be one of the above but is perhaps more integrated with software especially assessme...
Part 2 of this book has three chapters concerning print-on-demand today: normalised, commoditised... more Part 2 of this book has three chapters concerning print-on-demand today: normalised, commoditised and adopted, print-on-demand for books today (2015–2017). Monographs are the first. While print-on-demand does not solve all the fundamental issues facing the economics of monograph, it is playing an important role in facilitating the migration to digital by offering users the option to buy a printed and bound copy without crippling the academic book publisher who is engaged with an increasingly “digital first” publishing ecosystem. Print-on-demand for books coupled with online bookselling has impacted the academic monograph in four significant ways: first by sustaining the availability of printed and bound monographs to users who prefer them; second by positively contributing to the economics of migrating monographs to digital platforms and services for over time; third by offering academic publishers, including university presses, access to new markets both geographically inside the a...
Part 1 of the book covers the convergence of four pre-conditions to make print-on-demand for book... more Part 1 of the book covers the convergence of four pre-conditions to make print-on-demand for books work by highlighting examples across two decades of print-on-demand innovation: 1995–2015. This chapter covers the third technological and market development that was necessary for print-on-demand to impact the academic book which was the revolution in academic bookselling. Discoverability of books through new online bookselling catalogues on the web joined-up to print-on-demand titles databases. Then in-store print-on-demand machines sought to bring those books physically closer to book buyers. The chapter concludes with a case study about the Espresso Book Machine (2003) followed by a reproduction of an article which first appeared as: “The Good, the Bad, and the Sexy: Our Espresso Book Machine Experience” by Rick Anderson, The Scholarly Kitchen (2011) USA and reflects on a library’s experience of hosting an EBM on site. Two more case studies follow: the first is written by the autho...
This is the third and final chapter in Part 2 of the books: Normalised, commoditised, and adopted... more This is the third and final chapter in Part 2 of the books: Normalised, commoditised, and adopted, print-on-demand for books today (2015–17). While the publishing of new academic books either in monograph and textbook form has gradually migrated towards a digital first, if not a digital only creation process, the back catalogue of books not yet available print-on-demand and of interest to the academy is immense. The potential for print-on-demand academic books over the next decade is therefore also immense because aggregated books, archived books and e-book collections are growing apace. All of these databases, in languages around the world, are potentially print-on-demand books in waiting. The chapter considers book aggregator, book archives, and e-book collections. The chapter concludes with an interview and two case studies. The first interview conducted in 2017 is with Mitchell Davis, Founder & Chief Business Officer, BiblioLabs LLC (previously founder of BookSurge LLC) who is b...
Part 1 of the book covers the convergence of four pre-conditions to make print-on-demand for book... more Part 1 of the book covers the convergence of four pre-conditions to make print-on-demand for books work by highlighting examples across two decades of print-on-demand innovation: 1995–2015. This chapter covers the second essential pre-condition for print-on-demand to impact academic book publishing, which was the innovation of cost-effective digital printing equipment and tracking software to manage print workflows suitable for books, and the rolling out that new technology to book printers who were prepared to take a risk. Printed computer manuals which used document management systems forged the way for one-off book publishing and true print-on-demand for the book industry introduced by Lightnings Source Inc., an Ingram company. At about the same time short-run digital printing increased and academic publishers partnered with R.R. Donnelly, Anthony Rowe, CPI and Bibliovault supported by Edwards Brothers amongst others. The differences between the economics of offset and digital pr...
Part 1 of the book covers the convergence of four pre-conditions to make print-on-demand for book... more Part 1 of the book covers the convergence of four pre-conditions to make print-on-demand for books work highlighting through examples across two decades of print-on-demand innovation: 1995–2015. This chapter covers the development of digital pre-press for books in the 1980s and 1990s was the first of the four contextual factors that enabled print-on-demand to make a significant impact on academic book publishing is the establishment of digital book publishing. Digital composition, digital workflow management, and digital asset management are different aspects of the prepress process for books. Includes one of the earliest documented process summaries of one-off print-on-demand for books is found in a US patent submission. The chapter concludes with an interview and a case study: the interview was conducted in 2017 with Ed Marino, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, codeMantra who is based in the United States and was previously CEO of Lightning Source Inc. He explains that publish...
The book has three parts and this is the first chapter in Part 3: Forecasts and trends in print-o... more The book has three parts and this is the first chapter in Part 3: Forecasts and trends in print-on-demand for academic publishing (2018–25). This chapter considers on-demand publishing trends of which five are identified: more digital first print-on-demand editions as publisher rework their pre-press capability; a greater variety of book types meaning more flexible finishing and higher quality will accommodate more types of books; more customisation of books being generated from publishing platforms with variable data in them; greater market extension across the globe of print-on-demand services – both high-tech and low-tech; and empowered academic authors who will engage with new intermediaries. All trends in academic book publishing which point to an ongoing role for print-on-demand books for the foreseeable future. The chapter concludes with two interviews and a case study. The case study summarises two services engaged in the fruits of biblical scholarship. Bible translations on...
Part 1 of the book covers the convergence of four pre-conditions to make print-on-demand for book... more Part 1 of the book covers the convergence of four pre-conditions to make print-on-demand for books work by highlighting examples across two decades of print-on-demand innovation: 1995–2015. This chapter covers the fourth area of technological and market development that was necessary for print-on-demand to impact the academic book which was book fulfilment, i.e. the physical book supply chain. This includes all aspects of book fulfilment to enable sales through all possible retail channels. Four critical elements of the book supply chain that needed to be in place to make scaled-up print-on-demand sales happen: electronic data interchange (EDI) of orders for books including shipping messages; effective book metadata describing each individual book in defined industry standards which one computer can pass to another; encoded metadata information into barcodes to speed-up handling processes for thousands of unique books; and supply chain innovations in the wider business ecosystems wh...
Serials: The Journal for the Serials Community, 1999
Paper given at the UKSG seminar Consortia and Site Licensing: so far so goodbut where is it leadi... more Paper given at the UKSG seminar Consortia and Site Licensing: so far so goodbut where is it leading?, London, January 1999 The subscription agents' experience of the changing financial models which are aflecting the scholarly communication community, particularly site licensing and consortia purchasing.
Serials: The Journal for the Serials Community, 1997
Researchers cn haw free access to peer-rmiaoed, electronic information at point of use but there ... more Researchers cn haw free access to peer-rmiaoed, electronic information at point of use but there has to be a charge at some point in the information chain, in order to cover production costs and to protect the rights of the publisher, author and editor. This paper focuses on twelw issues which have an effed on price and access control in the relationship between publisher, agent, librarian and end-user.
Learned Publishing, 2004
An account is given of the advantages of print‐on‐demand to the learned publishing sector. The ne... more An account is given of the advantages of print‐on‐demand to the learned publishing sector. The need for appropriate administrative arrangements for it is stressed and some examples of the issues that should be addressed are given.
Interlending & Document Supply, 2011
Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the feasibility of using the rapidly developing print on... more Purpose – This paper aims to investigate the feasibility of using the rapidly developing print on-demand (POD) services to provide an alternative to interlibrary loan. Design/methodology/approach – The current state of the print on-demand market is described and various developments considered including ILL. Findings – It was found that POD is probably not the “new interlibrary loan” heralded two years
Serials: The Journal for the Serials Community, 2003
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Papers by Suzanne Wilson-Higgins