SOURCE: "The Print Prison," in Library Journal, Vol. 117, No. 2, February 1, 1992, pp. 48-51.

[In the following essay, Smith remarks on the weaknesses of the print medium, particularly as it relates to scholarly publishing, and suggests ways in which the academic community could benefit from electronic information technology.]

It is no exaggeration that the invention of printing liberated the spread and advancement of knowledge. No field or discipline remained untouched, and most were transformed by printing's ability to disseminate and preserve information inexpensively and with an ease and reliability never previously imagined. The ensuing rapid rise of print publication also exerted a liberating influence on the growth and development of libraries.

It is, however, becoming increasingly clear that the book and other print products have also had a limiting effect on knowledge's spread and advancement. Print imprisons knowledge by the very means through which it promotes its availability: access to...