Digital heritage: reborn works, a new life for out-of-print works

Abstract

This article is part of a research project dedicated to copyright works that are out of traditional commercial circuits, either because they are out of print or their right holders are not located, but now, thanks to digitization and online selling, are recovering their commercial value. First, a terminological study and its meaning in Spanish editorial sector, where different words have been used to design this reality, is provided. The empirical base of study are 80,165 works selected from the library collection of the Complutense University of Madrid, most of them published between 1940 and 2000. These works have been lent more than 10 times between 2010 and 2017; therefore, they are being demanded even many years after their publication, but at the same time they allow us to compare their vitality in the libraries with that of the commercial catalogues. Results highlight the differences with the data handled by the editors. Indeed, the book market is very dynamic and most of these works are easily found in online commercial catalogues.