Books in the digital age

Books - like other mass media - have a dual character. Books are products which are traded for con-sumption (use) on the variety of specialized market - (in educational, professional and consumer sec-tors). But books are also cultural artefacts, primary means of transmitting ideas and culture across generations and through the ages, through which the cultural identity is transmitted and maintained. Both of those aspects are interrelated and inseparable where the first characteristic - through trade and distribution of books - enables the diffusion of intellectual and cultural effects of books. In the public debate these duality is not stressed enough. Debate concentrating on the book as a product, its distri-bution, sales, rules of competition and economic meaning dominates in the economic and industry point of view. Literary studies, librarianship and "buchwesen" concentrates on the debates around the cultural character of the book. There is a need of furthering research that will take treat this duality in one single piece of research and consider the challenges that the new technologies bring to books.

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