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Print-on-demand
This
page is under construction.
background
Print
on demand technology will probably have a greater impact
on book publishing during the next five years than
e-books.
It involves
downloading of an electronic text from a publisher's
server for printing of a single copy - or a small print
run - in a bookshop or a kiosk.
In addition to IBM and Xerox,
the two leading specialists trialling the technology in US
bookstores and libraries are Lightning and Sprout.
Lightning
Print is a
subsidiary of US national book wholesaler Ingram, which
recently foiled a takeover bid by Barnes & Noble.
Lightning has around 4,500 titles on its server, drawn
from academic, general and religious publishers.
Sprout
promotional literature flags
that they are turning book publishing and retailing upside
down, replacing "the old way - print, distribute,
sell" with "the Sprout way - sell, distribute,
print!". Borders, a US national retail chain,
has recently acquired a major interest. Sprout is
currently repositioning itself as a broad digital
service-provider for booksellers and publishers. Its
major alliance is Viacom's publishing arm, particularly St
Martins Press and Simon & Schuster.
In December Barnes & Noble announced that it would use
IBM
technology in print-on-demand facilities in its regional
distribution centres.
Eric Peurell's 1998 EU report
on Electronic publishing and Print on Demand: a review
of current projects in Sweden and the more
detailed 1999 paper
by Alison Rivers on Print-on-demand: An overview of
current experiences in Europe.
Universities are
also exploring the technology. The major US initiative is
the Consortium for University Printing and Information
Distribution (CUPID),
a coalition brought together by the Xerox University
Advisory Panel and now coordinated by the Coalition
for Networked Information (CNI).
other media
EMI and Sony announced in July 1999 that they are
embracing similar technology for producing compact disks
on-demand.
background
Michael
Spring's Electronic Printing & Publishing: The
Document Processing Revolution (New York, Dekker 91)
is dated. We'll be providing more pointers shortly.
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studies)
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