Gary Taylor, Professor of English and Director of the History of Text Technologies Program at Florida State University.

Both are free and open to the public.

1. The CHPC Annual Lecture by Professor Taylor: What is an American Book? From Movable Type to Downloadable Files
Friday, October 20 4:00 - 4:50 PM
Auditorium, Wisconsin Historical Society-Library Mall

New digital technologies have called into the question textual boundaries gradually established over the centuries since the invention of movable type. In "What is an American Book?" Professor Taylor will examine the relationship between two questions, usually treated separately: "What is a book?" (nowadays usually asked in relation to the emergence of new digital media) and "What is American?" (nowadays usually asked in relation to international corporate conglomerates and/or immigration). He will argue that the answers to such questions require a much longer and wider historical focus, and a critique of the prevailing norms in the study of book history.

2. Panel Discussion:
New Technology in Book Publishing: Horseless Library?
Saturday, October 21 10:00 - 11:30 AM
Auditorium, Wisconsin Historical Society-Library Mall

Panel: Gary Taylor, Professor of English, Florida State University.
James P. Danky, Director, Center for the History of Print Culture in Modern America, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Peter Osnos, Executive Director, The Caravan Project, funded by MacArthur Foundation, developing plan for multi-Platform publishing of books.
Ken Frazier, Interim Chief Information Officer, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Gwen Walker, Acquisitions Editor, University of Wisconsin Press.

Is there a future for print? What is the economic viability for print editions of non-blockbuster bestsellers? Earlier this year, UW Press experimented with its first simultaneous release of print and online versions of the same book. Meanwhile, a consortium of publishers and book retailers is developing "The Caravan Project," a venture to provide a new range of text delivery in stores: from print and audio to e-books, podcasts, etc. Join the folks behind these projects for a panel discussion of the current status, as well as visions for the future of books.

Both events are co-sponsored by the Center for the History of Print Culture in Modern America, the Department of English, the General Library System, the Department of History, and the School of Library and Information Studies. For further information contact Irene Hansen: ihansen@wisc.edu

Details of the Wisconsin Book Festival are at: http://www.wisconsinbookfestival.org/