{"id":2297,"date":"2021-08-30T09:14:00","date_gmt":"2021-08-30T13:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sharpweb.org\/sharpnews\/?p=2297"},"modified":"2025-09-12T11:28:19","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T15:28:19","slug":"book-materiality-exploration-kits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sharpweb.org\/sharpnews\/2021\/08\/30\/book-materiality-exploration-kits\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Materiality Exploration Kits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This classroom activity was a collaboration between a special collections librarian and a library and archives conservator, testing a new approach to engaging students with books as material objects. The conservator developed book materiality exploration kits that were individually paired to books from the library\u2019s rare books collection. The special collections librarian used these kits with a graphic design class, which came to the special collections to explore historical (rare) books and contemporary artists\u2019 books as inspiration for their own book design project later in the semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The activity and kits are adaptable to a variety of book or document formats and could be used for a range of academic disciplines to encourage students to deeply engage with the physical nature of collections materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A student working with a kit and a book, looking for chain lines in paper samples<\/figcaption><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The faculty member teaching the class wanted to challenge their students to step outside their comfort zone of graphic design software, and this hands-on activity encouraged students to consider physical materials as significant elements of design. The students in this class came to the special collections classroom in the library for a 90-minute session, in which they were introduced to both artists\u2019 books and rare books as material objects. At the end of the session, the students synthesized their learning by imagining an artists\u2019 book that they could create inspired by a historical book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The session included a show-and-tell of artists\u2019 books from the rare books collection featuring a range of formats and structures, followed by individual in-depth exploration of an artist\u2019s book and a rare book with the aid of the book materiality exploration kits and a worksheet as a guide. This in-person class was designed with social distancing in mind; in a situation where that is not a concern, the lesson plan might be adjusted to allow students to interact with multiple artists\u2019 books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For assessment purposes, students are asked to complete a single-page evaluation form at the end of all library instruction sessions, stating two things they learned, one unanswered question, and rating the effectiveness of both the session and the instructor in advancing their learning, with an option for making any comments. Student comments indicated that they learned about the diversity of materials used in books and the variety of formats that artists\u2019 books can take. Some specifically mentioned learning about chain lines and laid lines in handmade paper. Several comments indicated that students really enjoyed conducing close examinations of books and appreciated having samples of materials to handle in the kits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Student engaging with an artist\u2019s book that uses 3-D glasses<\/figcaption><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Assembling the kits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Rare books and their corresponding materials kits being organized<\/figcaption><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Each kit included samples of materials that corresponded to a specific rare book binding. No two kits were the same, since none of the rare books selected for this exercise were made with the same combination of bookbinding materials. Each kit and each set of samples were labeled with the call number of the rare book they related to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A rare book with its corresponding kit of samples<\/figcaption><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

All samples of historic materials were taken from discarded components of rare book bindings. The conservator had collected these book covers and endsheets in the course of her work over the years of creating new bindings for rare books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Discarded book boards and endsheets<\/figcaption><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The covers came from books dating from the late 1700s to early and middle 1800s. In the absence of this type of discarded material, historic samples can be sourced from damaged rare book bindings purchased through antique dealers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Prepping and sorting the samples<\/figcaption><\/svg><\/span><\/a><\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Materials included in our kits<\/h2>\n\n\n\n