New York’s Green Book Goes “Green”

New York’s famous annual Green Book will truly “go green” this year, as the city has decided to publish the book online. A limited number of copies will also be available for sale in print, however, probably for people who would like to add to their collection.

The Green Book was first published almost a century ago by Mayor John F. Hylan, who wanted to put together a comprehensive list of agencies in New York City. The book has since evolved into a collection of strange New York trivia, as well as phone numbers(effectively making it both a trivia book and a phone book).

The city has not updated the book since the 2008-2009 edition. The city recently announced that it will publish another edition, but that this one will be truly “green,” as it will be published online, in a format that people can use to search for what they need (in a sense it will be an online directory). They will have hard copies available as well, most likely to appease residents who collect the books (much like people collected the “Book of the Year” books).

This is yet another example of businesses and now city government turning to the internet to publish large amounts of data, instead of publishing them in hard copies. It begs to ask the question of how long it will be until all of our information is published this way. Most books, magazines, and newspapers are already published online, as well as physically printed on paper. Do you think that we will eventually do away with paper altogether?