A System Destabilized: Scholarly Books Today

In the last twenty years, economic, social, political, and technological forces have converged to produce an unstable present and an uncertain future for the scholarly monograph, the principal form of scholarly communication in the humanities and a form of importance in other areas. This article examines the concerns and problems of each of the interested parties: publishers, booksellers and librarians, readers, and authors. It emphasizes the interrelated character of the system.