Michael Nadeau
A NEW MANAGEMENT FRAMEWORK FOR THE DIGITAL ERA, Douglas M. Eisenhart, Quorum Books, ISBN 0-89930-847-3, $55
Technology is forcing print-publishing professionals to ask a lot of hard questions. What role do paper books play in the age of digital media? How do they make the transition to electronic media? What types of information are appropriate for a given medium? Publishing in the Information Age guides those professionals through these and other issues.
Although the book is intended as a management guide for people who work in print media, anyone interested in electronic delivery of information will appreciate Eisenhart's insights. He sees publishing on digital media as extending traditional publishing, not replacing it. Eisenhart effect
ively counters the view that the days of print media are numbered.
An executive of publisher Houghton Mifflin, Eisenhart discusses each type of medium, including CD-ROM, film, and ``electronic highways,'' in terms of a ``media matrix.'' Along one axis are the products and services broken down by stand-alone products, periodicals, and ``open channel,'' which includes broadcast and networked information; on the other axis are the medium modes--textual, visual, and audio. Each medium is then blocked out according to where it falls within the grid.
Written in an academic style with an industry-specific focus, Publishing in the Information Age will not appeal to anyone with a casual interest in publishing. But if you want a realistic, no-hype view of the future of information delivery, this book is the one to buy.
Publishing In The Information Age
