The Best of TOC 2012 is a collection of the most important publishing-related content we’ve published on O’Reilly Radar over the last year (with a few exceptions). Our coverage spanned a wide range of topics, from legal issues to publishing tools to what we can expect down the road.

We don’t set out to cover specific sub-domains of publishing. Rather, we take an organic approach to the topics and themes that emerge through our interviews and analysis. That’s why, as we look back, it’s interesting to see that many of our pieces naturally fit into the following segments.

The adaptation of publishing — The disruption in publishing is just getting started. Journalists are experimenting with ebook options over traditional outlets, readers are wrapping their heads around the concept of paperless books, and authors are wondering if they even need publishers.

Digital publishing and the legal landscape — The emerging global market for books is stirring up all sorts of legal questions concerning copyright, public domain and digital publishing rights for authors and publishers. Existing laws are slowly adapting to new media platforms as well.

Publishing tech and tools — Digital publishing is requiring tech education for everyone, from publishers to authors to readers. In addition, the rise of mobile is driving the development of publishing’s next toolset.

The edge of publishing — Adaptation to a new publishing landscape starts with a change in thinking — not only in how we think about technology and books as objects, but in how we define our various roles and how we choose to collaborate.

We hope you’ll join us as we continue to explore the future of publishing through Tools of Change for Publishing events, the TOC webcast series, and our ongoing coverage at radar.oreilly.com/publishing.