Events

Past Event

Sarah Werner - Book History Colloquium: Old Books as Digital Objects

February 13, 2019
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM
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Butler Library (Room 522), Columbia University, 535 West 114th Street

Event Description:

We are used to reading texts with our eyes—reading the words and images for their content (in fact, this is so obvious it’s odd to describe it). But we also read texts with our fingers—the feel of the materials, the act of navigating through a codex or scroll, and the feel of the weight shifting or paper folding as we move through the content all contribute to our understanding of the work we’re reading.

Dr. Werner’s talk will use the practice of reading with our fingers to explore how we experience old books in that other sense of being digital—as bits of data able to be seen and manipulated by computer software. How does the transformation of early printed texts into digital images change how we use and understand the books we study and teach? And how can we take advantage of and respond to these changes without losing the tactile experience of reading material texts?

Event Speaker:

Sarah Werner, PhD, is a book historian, digital media strategist, and Shakespeare scholar based in Washington, DC. She is the author of the forthcoming Studying Early Printed Books 1450-1800: A Practical Guide.

Event Information:

Registration is required.