With the advent and rapid ascent of the e-book, those in the publishing and bookselling trades have found themselves in the thick of a sea change of enormous magnitude. Sales of e-books in the U.S. saw a huge spike in 2009; 2010’s numbers were even more dramatic. The best-case scenario for those who still prefer conventional books is peaceful coexistence: electronic and paper media sharing shelf- and cyber-space harmoniously. Ken Botnick thinks that’s likely the future we’ll see. Botnick is an art professor at Washington University who maintains that at a time when the physical book is allegedly dying out, there are in fact more courses on the art of the book offered at universities around the world than ever before in history. Students – and countless people in every walk of life – feel a lasting connection to the tactile reality of a well-designed print and paper book that no e-sophistication will ever be able to supplant. You can hear Professor Botnick expound on this cheering topic in a free lecture, “The Book, Multimedia Tool,” today from 12:15 to 1:15 p.m. in the J.C. Penney Conference Center at the University of Missouri-St. Louis (One University Drive at Natural Bridge Road; 314-516-5961 or www.umsl.edu).
Mon., Feb. 28, 2011
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