Ultra Libris ─ Policy, Technology, and the Creative Economy of Book Publishing in Canada

Reflecting cultural, political, and technological changes, this detailed exploration of Canadian book publishing displays trends of the industry from the last 50 years. Against the backdrop of historical highlights, the book dives into modern events in book publishing, focusing on the explosion of national book publishing in the 1970s and detailing the sparring match between the industry and government during the 1970s through the 1990s. While industry and government policy both aimed at national survival in the face of globalization, the book documents how, beginning in the mid-1990s, Ontario established an emphasis on financial stability for the cultural sector accompanied by stimulants to encourage participation in domestic and international markets. This new vision laid the foundation for and anticipated the growing recognition of the creative economy worldwide. Coinciding with that recognition came an embrace of technology not just as a business catalyst, but also as a transformative medium for expression with the potential to change the nature of both book publishing and human understanding. Finally, the text concludes with a discourse on the future of books and book publishing, not only in Canada but in the world as a whole.