Keeping Books Alive

Thanks to recent improvements in printing technology, more and more university presses have moved to a new strategy of short initial runs, printing additional copies if and when any new orders come in. That way, older books don’t clog the warehouse, and titles are never out of print. Some say that the process, called on-demand publishing, has been a key to survival for university presses, which face flagging orders from libraries whose budgets have been cut in recent years. (The Chronicle, subscription required)