{"id":2581,"date":"2022-08-29T13:41:42","date_gmt":"2022-08-29T17:41:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sharpweb.org\/sharpnews\/?p=2581"},"modified":"2025-09-21T17:22:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T21:22:04","slug":"introducing-sharp-features","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sharpweb.org\/sharpnews\/2022\/08\/29\/introducing-sharp-features\/","title":{"rendered":"Introducing SHARP Features"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Introducing SHARP Features<\/h1>\n\n
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Allie Alvis<\/a><\/div>\n\n
in <\/span>Events & Announcements<\/a>, <\/span>Features<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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The book is so much more than that thing with pages sitting on your shelf, or the file on your e-reader. Books are concepts, symbols, the subjects of viral social media posts, set pieces in popular culture, and more. As book historians, we are used to engaging with these objects and ideas in a relatively formal way, via fairly prescriptive formats, such as articles and conference papers. But where do you go if you want to talk about how an anime interprets the development of the codex format and moveable type printing? Or if you want a quick overview of what\u2019s going on on #BookTok? Or if you want speculation on the reading room practices of Terry Pratchett\u2019s Unseen University? Welcome to SHARP News Features<\/em>, the home of book history writing, scholarship, and reflections that are a little bit outside the norm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SHARP Features<\/em> is a section that seeks to engage with the concept and consumption of the book and all its facets in innovative ways. As the field of book history continues to embrace \u2013 or at least, come to terms with \u2013 its place at the intersection of \u201cnew\u201d and \u201cold\u201d media, we are able to establish new ways of communicating with wider audiences than ever before, even within our own networks. Features <\/em>will foster more experimental formats and topics that range from the significance of books in pop culture properties to video essays on specific book historical topics and research. The digital format of the section means that image-heavy pieces are not just possible but encouraged, as are pieces that are strictly video.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We hope that the Features <\/em>section will strengthen existing networks within the field, and present new angles for research and communication. It is also an acknowledgement of the fact that the concept of books among people outside the field of book history can be quite far removed from bibliographic reality \u2013 by examining these disconnects, we hope to improve the way we communicate our subject area, and increase accessibility to and interest in information about the history of the book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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SHARP Features<\/em> seeks to publish writing and video essays in an array of categories, with plenty of room for overlap. Our primary categories are: <\/p>\n\n\n\n