University press publishing was introduced in sub-Sahara Africa around the mid 1950s as the new independent countries strived to accelerate the pace of education and training of their peoples with the sole purpose of the rapid socio-economic development of their countries. Just like their universities, African university presses were modeled after their American and European counterparts. Like all genres of publishing, scholarly publishing in Africa has not been cushioned from the challenges imposed by economic factors. In fact publishing in Africa enjoyed a short boom in the early 1970s, but due to the serious socio-economic downturns in most of these countries, starting from the early 1980s, these gains have been halted and in some cases reversed. This study examines the policies and practices of six sub-Saharan Africa university presses. It is a multi-site case study to establish how far the presses have adopted and/or adapted their policies to suit the environment and circumstances of Africa. The study investigates the extent to which constraints facing them affect their publishing efforts, their coping strategies, and the possible avenues of reducing the effect of these constraints. Several data collection methods were employed including on-site visits, interviews, and observations at three of the presses, and a mail survey of all six presses. There is a serious absence of competition and cooperation between the presses surveyed. There are no aggressive fund raising strategies, yet the survey showed financial constraint as the most crucial factor that impedes the development of their publishing activities. The presses do not have press publishing areas or press lists, which define the subject areas in which each of them concentrates its publishing. None of the presses has a formal written policy on manuscript acquisition. The study confirms that university presses publish mainly in the humanities and social sciences. Views on a unique African model of a university press are divided. The issue of author-publisher relationship is high on the presses agenda, especially as African scholars seek publishing avenues with African presses. Opinion on publishing non-scholarly materials was divided but swayed towards getting the needed profits to support non-profitable but essential publishing by the university press. For the majority of the presses, the most important publishing category is undergraduate textbook, and direct sales is the most popular means of marketing their works. The presses have succeeded at selling between 25-65% of their output. The study concludes that the coping strategies adopted by the presses in the face of harsh environmental conditions include the introduction of ICTs, changes in the treatment of authors, editorial policy on publishing non-scholarly materials, staff levels and use of outsourcing, and different approaches to sources of funding. It recommends a consortium of African university presses based at the micro level on Specialization, Cooperation, and the adoption of ICTs especially print-on-demand technologies. Each press must operate as a Trust in order to enjoy autonomy as a private company, but be registered as a non-profit organization. At the macro level funding must be vigorously sourced through donor agencies including The African Development Bank. Governments should prioritize book publishing, the development and stocking of libraries, encourage reading, set up regional university presses, and introduce book and publishing components into research project funds. The study recommends further research into the effect of technological developments on university press publishing in Africa, a follow up study in 10 years to see how university presses in Africa are surviving, and a detailed study of university press consortia and the implications for tertiary education in Africa.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the Master of Arts in Publishing Studies Johannesburg, 2016 / AMECEA Gaba Publications was founded in 1958 in Gaba, Uganda, by the Association of Member Episcopal Conferences of Eastern Africa (AMECEA) bishops. As a platform for theological reflections by the agents of evangelization in the AMECEA region, Gaba Publications’ sole aim is to make Christ’s message relevant to the Church in Africa through printed reflections, research findings, informed views and pastoral ministry experience. Its main publications are the African Ecclesial Review (AFER) journal and Spearhead monograph book series. The concern of this case study was that AMECEA Gaba Publications (AGP), which has been in the business for a relatively longer time than most publishers in the region, and with the influence it has across all of the East and Central Africa thanks to the support of AMECEA bishops, should by all estimates be doing better or at least competing favourably with the other players in the field of publishing in the region. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Over the years, Gaba Publications has witnessed a great reduction in its subscription, readership sales and authorship contributions. What is Gaba Publications not doing to stay competitive and in keeping with the publishing trends in the region? What is the Publications doing wrong? This study sought to answer these questions by examining the current publishing status of AMECEA Gaba Publications, identifying some of the opportunities available for Gaba Publications to improve its current financial status and assessing the capacity of Gaba Publications to engage in e-publishing. From the study findings, it was established that Gaba Publications, being an evangelical publishing firm, may never fully achieve self-sustainability. However, the findings of the study also indicated that a number of opportunities are available for Gaba Publications to attract business opportunities and help it make steps towards improving its current publishing status. The key lessons that this study has yielded are that a publishing company must have a product that has a distinct quality, genre and style, it must have a mission and goals that consumers can relate to, and be able to effectively sell its goods and services / GR2017

Avec les progrès des technologies numériques et des réseaux, les archéologues sont appelés à réfléchir à la grande diversité des supports pour la consultation des connaissances archéologiques. L’objectif de cette recherche est de comprendre les caractéristiques de la publication scientifique en ligne et les solutions qu’elle apporte au travail de l’archéologue.La première partie de cette étude, dédiée à l’histoire de la recherche d’information et de la publication en archéologie, dans la seconde moitié du XXe siècle en France, examine les expériences des précurseurs des bases de données, puis des pionniers du traitement des textes des publications, dans la mesure où ils furent des observateurs avisés des problèmes de lecture des publications archéologiques et de l’utilisation des informations contenues. Dans la seconde partie, l’étude aborde les questions de l’élaboration de la publication scientifique en ligne, de l’apparition de l’internet à aujourd’hui, dans le contexte d’une diffusion qui tend à mettre à la disposition de chacun une large partie de l'information (Libre accès). Elle définit le processus de l’édition scientifique en ligne pour l’archéologie, à partir d’une enquête sur les fréquents supports de diffusion en ligne des ouvrages et des revues scientifiques imprimés et sur la formation de publications numériques natives, suivie d’une analyse de conceptions au sein de l’UMR 7041 Archéologies et Sciences de l’Antiquité avec différents partenaires. Les résultats permettent de mieux comprendre les besoins fondamentaux de la communauté archéologique et de l’aider à organiser ces entreprises éditoriales. / The nature of publishing in archaeology is changing with the advancement of digital media, and archaeologists are deeply involved in the evolution of print and digital publication. This research aims to understanding the characteristics of digital publication and the solutions it offers to archaeological research.The first part of this study concerns the history of information retrieval and publication in the second half of the twentieth century in France. It examines the foundations of archaeological computing and the start of automatic documentation in the discipline (later becoming database applications and data processing), and how other past experiences have contributed to formalizing archaeological reflection and writing.The second part of the study surveys the development of digital publishing in archaeology through time and within the context of Open Access. Through an evaluation of websites that disseminate printed books and journals as well as those publishing only in digital form, the process of online dissemination is defined (and with reference to experiences from the Unit of “Archéologies et Sciences de l’Antiquité” with key publishing stakeholders). The results provide a key to better understand the needs of the archaeological community and assist in developing current approaches to archaeological publishing.

by Kwok Chun-yau. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1981. / Bibliography: leaves i-xiii.

論文(博士)--香港中文大學歷史系,1994. / 參考文獻: p. i-xxi(3rd group) / 游子安. / 論文提要 --- p.i / Chapter 第一章 --- 善書與社會文化變遷的界定 --- p.1 / Chapter 第一節 --- 善書的界說 --- p.1 / Chapter 第二節 --- 社會文化變遷與善書的論題 --- p.6 / Chapter 第三節 --- 善究綜述及本文研究的取向 --- p.12 / Chapter 第二章 --- 淸代社會文化對善書發展的影響 --- p.22 / Chapter 第一節 --- 淸代的社會敎化與宣講善書 --- p.22 / Chapter 第二節 --- 民間宗敎的盛行與關帝、呂祖善書的傳播 --- p.37 / Chapter 第三節 --- 淸代學術風氣下善書的編纂和整理 --- p.52 / Chapter 第三章 --- 淸代善書編著人物及區域的研究 --- p.63 / Chapter 第一節 --- 功過格等善書反映明末淸初社會經濟的問題 --- p.63 / Chapter 第二節 --- 出入三敎的家族--江蘇長洲彭氏家學、 善書與善舉 --- p.91 / Chapter 第三節 --- 從余治及其《得一錄》論淸後期善書與善舉 --- p.111 / 附：余治年表 --- p.122 / Chapter 第四節 --- 淸末湖南善書與反敎書刊 --- p.126 / Chapter 第四章 --- 淸代善書流行的社會文化意義 --- p.142 / Chapter 第一節 --- 善書流通地域與傳播方式 --- p.142 / Chapter 第二節 --- 官紳士人各階層與善書的編刊 --- p.157 / Chapter 第三節 --- 善書特定的勸戒對象 --- p.169 / Chapter 第四節 --- 善書與世變 --- p.195 / Chapter 第五章 --- 結論 --- p.205 / 附錄 書影 / 主要徵引書目

稿本 / 論文(碩士)--香港中文大學硏究院新聞與傳播學部,1992. / 參考文獻: leaves 75-76 / 阮紀宏. / Chapter (一) --- 研究目的與意義 --- p.1 / Chapter (二) --- 《有所謂報》的創刊年代與鄭貫公 / Chapter 2.1 --- 中國的國勢 --- p.4 / Chapter 2.2 --- 本世紀初香港的狀况 --- p.5 / Chapter 2.3 --- 鄭貫公傳略 --- p.7 / Chapter (三） --- 《有所謂報》 / Chapter 3.1 --- 有關《有所謂報》的描述 --- p.14 / Chapter 3.2 --- 面對同業競爭 --- p.15 / Chapter 3.3 --- 廣告與發行 --- p.17 / Chapter 3.4 --- 《有所謂報》的編排與欄目 --- p.20 / Chapter 3.5 --- 《有所謂報》的文體 --- p.22 / Chapter (四） --- 《有所謂報》與《中國日報》的論戰 / Chapter 4.1 --- 拒約運動的由來始末 --- p.27 / Chapter 4.2 --- 香港與拒約運動 --- p.32 / Chapter 4.3 --- 報界與拒約運動 --- p.35 / Chapter 4.4 --- 《有所謂報》與拒約運動 --- p.38 / Chapter 4.5 --- 論戰的由來 --- p.39 / Chapter 4.6 --- 論戰的焦點 --- p.40 / Chapter 4.7 --- 《有所謂報》論戰手法種種 --- p.49 / Chapter 4.8 --- 有關論戰的討論 --- p.54 / Chapter (五） --- 結論 --- p.60 / 附録： / Chapter (1) --- 《有所謂報》在論戰期間刊登的有關文章目 録 --- p.64 / Chapter (2) --- 參考書目 --- p.75

by Wai-kong Fung. / Thesis (M.Ph.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1988. / Bibliography: leaves 136-140.

The Swedish publishing company En bok för alla (which translates as “A book for everyone”) was established in 1976 following a decision in the Swedish parliament granting the right of the government to sign a cooperative agreement with the non-profit foundation Litteraturfrämjandet. Using state funds, the publishing company would publish books of high literary value to be sold at low prices over a three-year period. The purpose of this was to combat the kind of literature that was sold at supermarkets and corner shops, and which was deemed being of low literary value, but also to reach the wider public and attract non-readers. In this study I argue that the establishment of En bok för alla must be viewed as an expression of Swedish cultural policy which took form in the early years of the 1970s. Two years prior to En bok för alla being established the Swedish parliament passed the first cultural policy act of Sweden, thus laying the groundwork for cultural policy to come. In this act, it is stated that aim of Swedish cultural policy was to contribute to a better social environment and to work for the furtherance of equality. This would be achieved by, among other things, minimizing the negative effects of commercial interests in the cultural sphere and decentralizing the production and distribution of culture. During the 1960s and 1970s, books had become increasingly expensive and books of higher literary quality were both more difficult and more expensive than their lower quality counterparts. I argue that many looked at this as a shortcoming on the part of the above mentioned commercial interests, who valued money more than literature. I will also show how some these ambitions, bold though they may have been, in the end fell short of accomplishing the goal of En bok för alla. Though they did succeed in publishing books at low costs, the question of whether they were of high literary quality or not I can’t say, they did not seem to reach the wider audience they had hoped to attract. Following the Swedish election of 2006 and the subsequent change of government, the state funds for En bok för alla were withdrawn in 2007. The argument given for this was that the book market had changed since 1976. This was of course true, but in my opinion the need for these high-quality dime-store books is perhaps even more acute today than ever before. In a time when smartphones, television and computers all compete for our attention, I believe that it is becoming an increasingly important task for our society to secure the role of books and reading in the world of media.

書本是推動文明進步不可或缺的一大利器，人們透過書本的知識來提升自己的能力，但現今的社會主要書本來源大多數皆由出版社主導編輯、出版及發行。因此本論文以不同的角度來討論幾個議題：從作者的角度來看，作者會希望可以擺脫出版社的控制並自行出版；出版社對通路的庫存量可以控制數量的需求；讀者可以自行決定閱讀內容，作出屬於自己的一本書。綜合以上的不同角度的出版需求議題，我們稱為隨需出版。 本論文首先分析出版業的總體環境，接下來透過次級資料收集及訪談方式，從作者、庫存及客製的需求角度來討論隨需出版。我們發現到從作者出版的需求，在美國及台灣都有業者提供相關的服務；從庫存的需求，我們透過訪問秀威資訊，他們利用印刷技術，讓庫存上升的量風險下降；從客製的需求，我們透過訪問旗標資訊，了解他們如何滿足對於大型企業客戶的需求出版。 另外我們也思考如何從單一讀者的需求，可以從建立出版平台，讀者依據自己想要的內容決定出版的書籍。因此本論文提出了以讀者為導向的隨需出版的觀念，讓讀者可以自行選擇想要內容來編輯書籍的出版模式，並且提出在老師編輯教材及個人研究方面的可能應用。 總之我們發現除了以讀者為導向的隨需出版仍需要深入研究外，其他種類需求仍不斷進步。雖然目前還沒有業者從事相關的工作，但未來讀者想要依據自己想要閱讀材料的需求日漸抬頭，相信我們所提出來的構想，一定會被實現。 / Books were an indispensable tool in helping the progress of civilization. People enhance their capacity through reading books. Nowadays, the provision of books was most dominated by the Press in terms of editing, publishing and issue. Therefore, this paper adopts different point of views to discuss several important issues. From the author's perspective, they wish to get rid of the control of the Press and publish on their own. Press, however, control the number of demand on the inventory of the market. Readers, on the other hand, wish to decide to what to read from the books. The comprehensive analysis from different point of view on publishing demand issues is so called “Book on-demand publishing”. This thesis analyzes the overall environment of the publishing industry, followed through secondary data collection and interviews from authors, inventory, and customized on-demand publishing. We visited the Show-We information company which took advantages of state of art printing technology in order to reduce the risks as the result from the increase of inventory; from the demand for customized, We visited the Flag publishing company. We understood how they meet the needs of enterprise customers for publishing. In addition, we also thought about how to establish a publishing platform on the basis of a single reader’s demand. In other words, the readers publish their own books based on the content they want to read. This thesis proposed the reader-oriented concept of demand publishing. Readers could select the desired content to be codifies in published form. We also propose the potential application of the demand publishing in the context of educational materials. In sum, we found that in-depth study in addition to on-demand publishing of reader-oriented and other types of customers-oriented is necessary. Although there is no industry engaged in such work, the need for readers-oriented publishing is rising. In the near future, we believe that our proposal could contribute the demand publishing.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Stanford University, 1974. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 277-291).