Book as a Print Media

[This post is based on my class presentation. The contents here are references from Internet and Books] 

Print media refers to the form of media that spreads information in printed manner i.e. with the use of paper and ink.

• Ø It falls under artifactual media.
• Ø Can be

–       Books

–       Newspaper

–       Magazines

Book

• Ø A book is a set of written, printed, illustrated or blank sheets made up of ink, paper or parchment (animal skin used in writing)   bind together along one edge within covers.
• Ø In library and information science, a book is called monograph to distinguish it from serial publication such as magazine and newspaper.
• Ø Books are the oldest form of mass media that used to be produced by handwriting in the past.
• Ø At ancient times, sacred writings, religious texts and literary works were compiled as books.
• Earlier, books were accessible to too few privileged person but now, advancement of technology begun the era of mass communication.

  

• Ø Knowledge spread among middle and lower classes and created ‘democratization of knowledge’
• Ø Information from the past was communicated down through book. Thus, book is a mass media.
• Ø The function of books are informing, persuading and entertaining.
• Ø They do not include advertisements.
• Ø They are less timely than newspapers and magazines. They are published in various editions.
  
• Ø Exploration and development of topic or idea in depth
• Ø These days International Standard of Book Number (ISBN) is practiced. It is unique to every book.
• Ø In Nepal, central library of TU issues ISBN that has four parts : Country code, publisher code, title code and check digits (that contains values from 0-9 and X)
• Ø Recent trend in book industry has lead to e-books i.e. books provided in electronic format. (they’re not print media;, they’re electronic versions)
• Ø E-books are available through internet, CD-ROM in html of Pdf format.
• Ø They provide new way for writing ideas to be published.
• Ø The physical form of book is changing.
• Ø Many audio books are also available.

• Ø Book publishing is an industry of its own right.
• Ø The publishers may be general, specified or niche.
• Ø General publishers publish books on various disciplines, specified focuses on particular work such as poetry, children book whereas niche publishers are small publishing houses serving very narrowly defined markets.
• Ø Book has to face intra-industry and inter-industry competition i.e. various books compete with each other and other media like internet, radio, film etc.
• Ø Book publishing is said to be a risky business. Only 20-40% of published books are sold.
• Ø It is said that book industry is witnessing more concentration and varieties (conglomeration) more than many other media industry.

Strength of book

–         Easier to store because it has bound pages.

–         Durable. Lasts for long time.

–         Detail coverage.

–         Attracts educated readers.

–         More credible

 

Weakness

–         Literacy barrier

–         Lacks timeliness compared to newspaper or magazines

–         Comparatively expensive.