[BOAI] e-Book research in Sweden

[Prof. T.D. Wilson]

*PRESS RELEASE*



*A new 4-year research programme on E-books in Sweden

*

Project title: The case of the e-book in a "small language" culture: Media,
technology and effects in the digital society.
Commonly developed by the University of Gothenburg (Department of
Journalism, Media and Communication) and the University of Borås (Swedish
School of Library and Information Science). Financed by the Swedish
Research Council under the Framework grant Digitized society: past, present
and future.



An investigation is proposed into the impact, actual and potential, of the
electronic book (e-book) on the authoring, publishing, distribution and use
process in Sweden. The proposed study is timely, given the recent increase
in the publication, use and library loans of e-books. The situation in
Sweden with regard to the successful introduction of e-books into the
national ‘book culture’ is complicated by a number of factors. It is a
so-called ‘small language’ market, but with a technologically literate
population, many of whom also read English. One of the consequences of the
‘small language’ phenomenon is that the Swedish book industry is prey to
the effects of globalization, since books have an international market.
Thus, the spread of a Swedish e-book may have to rely on somewhat other
factors than in the English-speaking world. The theoretical framework
includes a focus on: the emergence of the innovation out of previous
prototypes, the existence of a ‘supervening social necessity’, and the
impact of means for the suppression of ‘radical potential’ (Winston). In
addition Bourdieu’s field theory will be used to analyzing changes in power
between the actors in the field.



The research methods include personal interviews with authors, publishing
executives and booksellers, focus group interviews with librarians and
readers and questions in national surveys of the population. All data
collection will be performed within the Swedish Research Council’s ethical
guidelines.



Researchers in the project: Docent Annika Bergström, Prof. Lars Höglund,
Docent Mathias Klang, Prof. Elena Maceviciute, Skans Kersti Nilsson, PhD,
Prof. Tom Wilson.

 Contact persons: Prof. Lars Höglund (Gothenburg) lars.hoglund at jmg.gu.se,
Prof. Elena Maceviciute (Borås) elena.maceviciute at hb.se  (or, in UK – Prof.
Tom Wilson wilsontd at gmail.com)



Project address:

Prof. Lars Höglund, Institute for Journalism, Media and Communication

Gothenburg University Box 710.  405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden

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Professor T.D. Wilson, PhD, PhD (h.c.)
Publisher and Editor in Chief: Information Research
http://informationr.net/ir/
E-mail: wilsontd at gmail.com
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