broken link to future of the book
The second
conference on the future of the eternal book looks no better than the first.
recognizing digital preservation methods
“While the report considers collection driven approaches utilizing one-time capture, the on-demand environment will require an entirely different, on-going association with source collections including repetitive capture for differing renditions. In fact the report is silent on the destiny of source collections. A premise of leaf mastering, or storage of paper and film based source originals for use only as copy masters, is not considered.”
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materiality of writing
According to Hayles, “This
book is an experiment in forging a vocabulary and set of critical practices responsive to the full spectrum of signifying components in print and electronic texts by grounding them in the materiality of the literary artifact.”
materiality of the book
The materiality consists of three aspects. There is the physicality of the book which includes qualities such as texture, color or smell. Then there is the persistence of the book which is a material presence across time and cultures. Thirdly there is the bookís identity which is embedded in symbology of imaged content, characteristics of binding or its circumstance among neighboring books in a library.
Is there any aspect of the book which is not its materiality? Yes, there are three aspects that are not material. There are its haptic interventions with the reader. There is the readersí experience of reading its text and, thirdly, there is its influence on the course of events.
document vs. record
A paper book documents and records simultaneously. That is, it both captures content and conveys content into the future at the same time.
With digital media these two functions have become separated. In the digital world almost everything is documented but little is effectively recorded for future access. This is true for digital books and digital photography. Whenever the analog formats are supplanted by digital formats we have documentation without effective recording for future access. No wonder there is more than nostalgic respect for paper and film. No wonder that paper books, printed on demand, are the most popular kind of ebooks.
er, really? Go to
Lightening Source. “In one week we manufacture 90,000 books one at a time“.