Publishing and the Intellectual System

Publishing is an integral part of the total intellectual system of any nation and of an international relationship of cultural and educational matters. Publishers are very much influenced by currents in their societies. Such factors as levels of literacy, habits of book purchasing, libraries, copyright regulations and bookstores have an impact on the nature of publishing and the book industry. The educational system, a particularly important consumer of books, is crucial to publishing. In industrialized nations, where levels of literacy are high, it is likely that publishing will be highly developed although it is under increasing attack from such forces as television and other mass media. In the Third World, the mass media are not highly developed, and books often have a particularly important role. This article argues that it is impossible to ignore the broader elements of the modern intellectual community in discussing publishing, and that books continue to play a key role in the development of that community and of the culture in general.