The Library Is Open — Blurry Boundaries Workshop

INTRO

Select, annotate, analyze, scan, correct, digitize, print, read, transfer, erase, encode, curate, hack, interface, work, copy...

What libraries become possible when you transform physical books into digital files, and vice versa? When a digital copy of a book is made for a digital library specific steps are followed. Each of these steps requires a decision – to use tools and to spend time. The work involved in digitising a book is invisible and the digital version often loses its connection to the physical book and the library it came from.

We aimed to reflect upon different topics such as: the friction between the physical and digital book, what is lost and what is gained when you pass from one format to another.
the physicality and contingency of these passages, the labor involved to produce those copies and its hidden position.
the mindset of the librarian who has to choose how to produce the digital library, which format to chose and what kind of information to reveal.
the possibility of a digital library which provides the history of the book and the people involved in its life.
annotations which reveal information and challenge the common, static idea of the book.