Print-on-Demand Books
26th October 2010
Digital print technology keeps moving forward, adding more and more exciting innovations to the printing industry. Many libraries and universities now get the funds for purchasing “print-on-demand” machine, which prints, covers and binds quality books from computer files.
The largest beneficiaries of a print-on-demand program are University Libraries. There are often not enough books for all the students, if a student needs a particular book that is absent, just in 8 minutes time they can receive a brand new copy of the text book. For students it means cheaper book options with even better quality cover. The final product is a neatly-bound book complete with a laminated cover.
As for libraries, the visitors can have the option request titles, have the book printed for free, borrow it to read, and either return to the library’s collection or pay a printing fee. It also gives a great strategy in the marketing sense as a library bases its collection upon customers’ choices, it adds to customer satisfaction by giving a new way of immediate response to their requests for materials outside of the current collection. The books are considerably cheaper as costs are cut on labour and shipping, which again is a good news for students and library lovers, and adds competition to the commercial book stores.
Although there is a series of positive factors about this digital development, there is also a potential concern. There is no limit on how many books can be printed, meaning everyone who pays can be published, resulting in potentially dreadful image of the waste of natural resources, and most importantly, polluted information systems.
Since this technology has not yet become so widely spread, it seems to be no concern, however, it is active and it is just a matter of time until it will be used by self-publishing amateurs.
We were delighted with the quality and Santander (our co-hosts for the event) were also very impressed. It is a real pleasure to work with you and all of your team at Purely Digital who are professional, efficient and extremely nice to deal with.
Victoria Wright, Solicitor
