people of the mirror
We can look to the features of the screen as a new reading mode and a new culture with its own religious views. While religious cultures keep a book at hand, a newer culture will be reading from the mirror of scripture. A culture of the screen will discard its scripture every five years and redraw it every few seconds. This new culture and its religious concerns will be known as ìpeople of the mirrorî.
peru
We are back at work in the
library of the Recoleta, Arequipa. The 17th century library and its later acquisions are now one year older. We have advanced from a preservation focus to a book studies agenda with visions of exchange and research. Another test case for the future of the book where the past is already bizzare, momentous and alluring.
A new goal will be design, curation and reinstallation of the central exhibit ìBooks in the Recoletaî with sub topics; ìHistory, Art and Technologyî. Thirty six case displays will be illustrated with items from the collection. Another goal is promotion and instruction based on the new exhibit. There will be on-site interpretation for young learners, tourist visitors and others.
A more developed facility for book conservation and library preservation will be established at the Recoleta. Instruction sessions on bibliographic description of the library of Recoleta and the role of books in Arequipa will be associated with the opening of the new exhibit. In 2011 there will be an institute for specialists and a sustainable education program. The institute will draw on existing organizations in book studies, book arts and book and library preservation to provide participation from the region, country, and the Americas.
late age
The Late Age of Print by Ted Striphas, 2009, proposes a pivotal role for physical books in the ìdensely mediated landscapeî of communication media today and concludes that “books and book culture (are) at the forefront of contemporary historical process.î
The wobbly mediation of academic book study with skills of book making can use the Striphas concept of a ìsingle bibliographic economyî, familiar to neither camp. This is an economy of sustainable production, controlled consumerism and vocational and domestic familiarity. Both camps, academic and craft, need to share advocacy of transmission via physical objects and the alluring possibility that print libraries are mechanisms for culture transmission in the future.