The video “ A Hornbook for Digital Book History with Whitney Trettien” was very interesting and informative . Digital book history is a complex term. Trettien discusses the many studies and branches that come with this rich history . Her approach emphasizes the vast history of the book that is rectified digitally or often forgotten. Trettien states “ what continues to draw me to digital bppl history is the desire to seek out and appreciate those creative endeavors otherwise escapes our purview.” After watching this video that is what digital book history means to me it is another view of how to perceive the book replicating common methods and strategies of its construction . It emplifes the book’s importance and how to deeply study it and interact with it . Trettien continues to state “ Telling the history of a book as a file”. In other words, digital book history is also the act of preserving the foundation of a book . There were many kinds of digital approaches to the study of the book that was discussed. However I am most drawn to the concept of Substrate defined as “ layers of non symbolic asemic matter that enable a technology to store record and playback cultural memory the most basic bedrock unit and materiality needed to describe and understand a device’s operation.” My reason is that I am interested in history and primary sources. While studying substrate I will potentially get an understanding of the foundation of digital book history . How it was transcribed , human interactions etc. Trettien’s terminology for explaining the studies in digital book history was jam packed with a lot of information and at times it was hard to keep up . Honestly there was a lot of pausing and going back to the pictures of examples , did help me grasp the understanding of her complex terminologies . However it did highlight how layered book history is. As for the final project I will be working with Lisbel, the primary source that we selected is “ Adventure in Black and White” from the collection of The Black Experience in Children’s Book. Not quite sure what specific content/ pages were going to focus on but thispeeked our interest as we are both interested in literature in regards to education.
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Hello Diamond,
I think that based on the quotes you used from the video, that digital book history is especially important for preserving the foundations of books and cultural moments. But I also found trouble with understanding her terminology and found myself replaying a lot of parts.
I think your primary source and topic is interesting, as we’ll see your guys’ digital preservation of a piece of education, which I think is very smart!
Wassup, Diamond
I fully agree with your opinion that digital books have a complex history. I find the history of digital books challenging because of the underlying truth of what a digital book is. And surprisingly, digital books, in terms of the technology aspect, have been around even since the beginning of writing. The fundamental tools we use to store information bit by bit and the small crafting of every electrical device, which has the directions and steps to create such technological advancements, are part of digital studies and books. Your primary source is interesting and helpful to me. I also found myself confused and annoyed with trying to understand digital books. I wanted to rip out my eyes and ears :c lol
Diamond, I’m looking forward to seeing how and Lisbel work with this source! Keep in mind that you can also pull in additional resources as support or to help add more context to how you edit, remediate, or recontextualize the source you both selected.
Hi Diamond, it seems like you have something very creative regarding your digital book. The Digital Book History provided lots of information that will motivate one to look at books more in a digital way. I think your primary source and topic is interesting. The digital aspect of book is something to fully recognize. I am looking forward to seeing your end product.