- G.N. Shvetsova-Vodka takes as a basis the communication and information approach, in which the book, as well as the document, is considered from the point of view of the theory of social information communication. G.N. Shvetsova-Vodka notes that the broadest meaning of the concept of "book" from the material and symbolic sides is equal to the concept of Document IV, that is, a book is any recording of information on a special medium in any way invented by a person [14, p. 249]. But there are other definitions narrowing the scope of the concept of "book", equating it with one or another type of document on different features.
It considers the concept of "book" taking into account the peculiarities of the material medium of information. At the same time, we shall define different meanings of the concept "book" in this way: Book I (equal to Document IV), Book II (paper document), Book III (paper document sheet), Book IV (paper document sheet, sheet collection), Book V (paper document sheet, sheet collection, block), Book VI (paper document sheet, sheet collection, sheet collection, block), Book VII (paper document sheet, sheet collection, block, block edition).
Book I does not take into account the peculiarities of the material carrier. Its main quality is that the medium should be such that it can be used to record information in any way invented by a person.
The meaning of Book II covers only paper documents, all other documents do not refer to the concept of "book". The meaning of Handbook III is that the "book" includes documents on paper, but always on sheets of paper. The meaning of Book IV indicates that it is a document composed of several sheets of paper (a collection of sheets).
Book V is equated with a paper block document in which sheets of paper are joined in a spine. Book VI is a paper document of a certain size and block size. In GOST 7.60 - 2003 "Editions. The basic kinds. Terms and definitions" volume of the book is defined as "over 48 pages". The same GOST specifies the non-periodicity of the book [4, p. 18], which further narrows the scope of the concept of "book" and is reflected in the meaning of Book VII.
The peculiarities of the emblematic form and way of human perception of the concept of "book" is also defined differently. The broadest meaning is Book 1 (equal to Document IV). Narrower meanings: Handbook 2, Handbook 3, Handbook 4, Handbook 5, Handbook 6. From the point of view of each of these meanings, all other (wider) meanings do not belong to the scope of the concept of "book".
- Book 2 is a document that is humane and directly perceived. If a person perceives the content of a document with the help of technical devices, this document is no longer considered a book in this sense.
- Book 3 is a document which is human perceivable, directly perceived, visual. If the person perceives the document by means of hearing or tactile sensations this document is not the book in the given value.
- In the meaning of Book 4, a book is considered to be only a symbolic document, i.e. one written in abstract characters that are not similar to the object displayed.
- The meaning of Book 5 corresponds to a document intended for reading, and Book 6 corresponds to a verbal written, literary or textual document, taking into account all previous limitations of the concept of "book". The smallest meaning - a document directly perceived, visual, symbolic, intended for reading, verbal, written (literary or text). N.N. Kushnarenko considers the concept of "book" already: "Book is a text document, a document verbal-written, human readable, directly perceptible, not requiring the use of any technical means, visual, published, printed, printed, printed, paper, block-codec, non-periodic" [8, p. 220].
It is worth noting that for a long time in the field of book science there was a problem: whether or not the documents are audiovisual or auditory. The arguments justifying the Book as a special category were the fixed information (M.F. Yanovsky wrote: "The reader always has an opportunity to return to the read... The listener is deprived of this opportunity") and the way of functioning (M. Chervinsky noted that audio and audio-visual documents are available in single copies in information centers, while the book is available to the general consumer) [quoted from: 15, p. 75]. However, further technical improvements made it possible to replicate such documents in large numbers and return to their content. A more significant argument of G.N. Shvetsov-Vodka is that the book is a means of transmission of logical (verbal) information), audio and audiovisual documents do not have this characteristic [15, p. 75].