The role and function of scientific and technical books in the information transfer mechanism

Abstract

The need to shorten the time lag between new scientific achievements and their application in practice requires the continuous increase of the publication and transfer of scientific and technical information. The resulting information explosion and publication explosion inevitably leads to the duplication of a certain amount of information. In the light of this so called inflation of information the author evaluates the role of the scientific and technical book. Relying on statistical data he claims that the demand of technical books has considerably increased over the past few years. Information obtained by electronic data processing and information services based upon computer applications are not likely to compete with the importance of the organized information content of a book. Traditional and modern forms of information transfer will continue to coexist in the future.