Publiceren in een digitaal tijdperk

Publishing in the Digital Age

 

One-day conference at Leiden University (Faculty of Arts and Humanities).

 

September 17, 2007

The publishing industry is in a state of flux. Digitization has a disruptive effect on the sector. It has raised efficiency and flexibility in the industry and provided the basis for development of new services and products. At the same time, it accelerates changes in the structure of companies and the definition of professions. Furthermore, as in many other sectors, the current wave of corporate restructuring on a global and regional scale in the publishing and other media industries results in mergers, take-overs as well as a splitting up and disintegration of businesses. Firms are in a constant process of strategic re-orientation aiming at new, more profitable markets, and serving shareholders through innovation.

These developments have a wide range of consequences for media in general and publishing in particular in terms of managerial operations, economic importance, and the wider role in society and culture. The conference addresses and debates a number of current themes pertinent to the digital age, ranging from future scenarios for the publishing sector, developments in academic publishing, the role and practice of journalists in contemporary and future media contexts, as well as cultural policy issues.

The conference is a co-production of the master programmes Book and Digital Media and Journalism and New Media at the Faculty of Arts and Humanities of Leiden University. It combines the expertise of professionals and academics from Leiden with the insights and experiences of experts affiliated with Leiden University and those of specific guest speakers. The symposium is open to the public and is marketed in the world of professional publishing, media production as well as in the policy domain. It also welcomes the new class of master students commencing their studies in September, and gives students who have just finished their theses the opportunity to present their work to a professional and academic audience. Confirmed speakers are:

·         Kurt De Belder (University Librarian, Leiden University)

·          Rob van den Bergh (former CEO of VNU Publishers)

·           Jan Bierhoff (Director European Centre for Digital Communication, Heerlen)

·           Geert-Jan Bogaerts (Head of Online Publishing of PCM Publishers)

·         Mark Deuze (Professor of Journalism and New Media, Leiden University; Department of Telecommunications, Indiana University, USA)

·         Lou Lichtenberg (Managing Director of Netherlands Press Fund)

·          Herman Pabbruwe (director of scientific publisher Royal Brill NV)

·          Paul Rutten (Professor Digital Media Studies, Leiden University)

·           John Thompson (Professor of Sociology, Cambridge University, author of “Books in the Digital Age)