co_LAB: designing the academic book of the future

As consumers of books become more connected via a global online network of readers and texts, the digital realm will continue to develop as a key context for “the three Ds”: Dissemination, Discoverability and Discussion. But the digital future does not just mean e-books. “The three D” environment also holds huge creative opportunities for supporting new print books, too. Groups will discuss the core values, features and functionality they feel the book of the future should embody in relation to these ‘three D’s’. The workshop brought together key stakeholders, including digital publishers, librarians, academics and post-graduate students, to discuss and debate the future of the academic book through a series of brainstorming exercises. It was also an opportunity to present the findings of the co_LAB Academic Book of the Future workshop which took place at the University of Lincoln in May 2016. This included a working augmented reality prototype that enabled interaction between books and mobile devices, which was exhibited during an interactive demonstration at the British Library.