Purpose
We engage with physical objects every day as part of our human experience. The object can affect us intellectually, spiritually, and emotionally which then translates into various attributes of emotions and feelings constructed through our own personal interests and ideologies (Wright, McCarthy, Meekison, 2005). People’s experiences of information as a starting point offers a perspective that values sensory information by looking at the use of information through the eyes of those who use their senses to creates, communicate and express information as an art form (Lupton, 2014).
Information is all around. It is how we navigate the world. This website presents an interesting pilot study on how informing physical materials are and how physical materials can lead user through the information journey. In a pilot study, The Affective Nature of Genealogy Collections: New Narratives through the Altered Book, book artists were observed during their information journey through physical materials and supporting or supplemental research as inspiration for their artworks. The authors of this paper are Anastasia S. Weigle, Assistant Professor, University of Maine at Augusta and Renee DesRoberts, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, McArthur Public Library, Biddeford, Maine.*
Information is all around. It is how we navigate the world. This website presents an interesting pilot study on how informing physical materials are and how physical materials can lead user through the information journey. In a pilot study, The Affective Nature of Genealogy Collections: New Narratives through the Altered Book, book artists were observed during their information journey through physical materials and supporting or supplemental research as inspiration for their artworks. The authors of this paper are Anastasia S. Weigle, Assistant Professor, University of Maine at Augusta and Renee DesRoberts, Archivist and Special Collections Librarian, McArthur Public Library, Biddeford, Maine.*
Introduction
What makes archives special is their collections-based arrangement, as opposed to the item-level arrangement in a standard library. Those collections, when viewed together—along with the contextual information so carefully gathered in the collection documents - tell a big picture story rather than just supplying a singular piece of information.
Too many genealogists, the “story” is the big, magical thing for which they doggedly search in archives near and far. Conversely, genealogists who have done extensive research and who are willing to share their amassed collections and materials with repositories add to the richness of the narratives found in archives. It is truly a symbiotic relationship. As underscored by Jan Zastrow: “Libraries and archives can provide the cultural and historical context to bring those dry facts and figures to life (Zastrow, 2015, 16).”
Add to the mix works created about and inspired by archival collections—such as the altered book—and you have brought the expression of “the story” to a whole new level. What happens when you bring genealogical collections and book artists together? What do genealogists have to gain through these book works? They get to experience the story in a way they may not have before, or from the point of view they had not considered. This art form can be a great way to gain new perspectives, which can help open up new avenues of research—and as all genealogists know, the greatest days are the ones when they figure out finally how to climb over (or around or under) those brick walls.
Archivists’ see first hand the connection users make with archival collections based on their interests, hobbies, education, personal views, or life experiences connecting us to history, people, cultures, and events. For the book artist, the stories are hidden inside genealogical collections; those serendipitous finds they come across during research can have a profound affect. What is the affective nature of genealogical collections? How do book artists use genealogical collections to create, communicate, and express information as an art form? How do book artists find their voice between the pages? What forms of information do book artists use to create new narratives? Lastly, what new information can be created in support of genealogical collections? In this chapter, we will discuss how one such project involving book artists’ user experience with genealogy collections offered insights to the affective nature of genealogy collections.
For full citations, see Bibliography page
Too many genealogists, the “story” is the big, magical thing for which they doggedly search in archives near and far. Conversely, genealogists who have done extensive research and who are willing to share their amassed collections and materials with repositories add to the richness of the narratives found in archives. It is truly a symbiotic relationship. As underscored by Jan Zastrow: “Libraries and archives can provide the cultural and historical context to bring those dry facts and figures to life (Zastrow, 2015, 16).”
Add to the mix works created about and inspired by archival collections—such as the altered book—and you have brought the expression of “the story” to a whole new level. What happens when you bring genealogical collections and book artists together? What do genealogists have to gain through these book works? They get to experience the story in a way they may not have before, or from the point of view they had not considered. This art form can be a great way to gain new perspectives, which can help open up new avenues of research—and as all genealogists know, the greatest days are the ones when they figure out finally how to climb over (or around or under) those brick walls.
Archivists’ see first hand the connection users make with archival collections based on their interests, hobbies, education, personal views, or life experiences connecting us to history, people, cultures, and events. For the book artist, the stories are hidden inside genealogical collections; those serendipitous finds they come across during research can have a profound affect. What is the affective nature of genealogical collections? How do book artists use genealogical collections to create, communicate, and express information as an art form? How do book artists find their voice between the pages? What forms of information do book artists use to create new narratives? Lastly, what new information can be created in support of genealogical collections? In this chapter, we will discuss how one such project involving book artists’ user experience with genealogy collections offered insights to the affective nature of genealogy collections.
For full citations, see Bibliography page
* This paper was submitted as a chapter in the book, Librarianship and Genealogy, published by McFarland.