Electronic scholarly monographs: issues and challenges for the UK

The literature on electronic publishing reveals that scant attention has been paid to the area of scholarly monographs. This paper reports on a recent and rare investigation into the nature and provision of electronic scholarly monographs and textbooks in the UK. Publishing structures are delineated; the physical characteristics of electronic scholarly monographs are reviewed; and issues associated with their nature and content are discussed. Problems of bibliographical control and of quality are also explored.