2013 Volume 56 Issue 7 Pages 403-413
The appearance and spread of digital books are pressing for the change of the industrial structure based on the printing technique, physical distribution, and product sales. It also affects the circulation of scholarly information and cultural accumulation, which are the important roles that publications have played. Digital books might change the library's function and institutional design as well. The purpose of this paper is to 1) explain the present condition of the digital books facing a difficulty with popularization, 2) discuss the system maintenance and the Copyright Act revision required for popularization, and 3) consider its influence on the library services, and the desired correspondences.