The creation of writing systems from the time of antiquity to the creation of the printing press has forged an important tool for information transfer and social engagement – the book. Books are an influential medium in our society, worthy of investigation. It is important to learn more about where they came from, why they are in the physical form known today, where they are going in a digital world, and the intellectual uses to which they have been put. Library, Archival and Information Studies 548F – History of the Book examines the book as a material object and looks at its importance as an agent of intellectual and social development.
Previously, History of the Book had been taught using the UBC Library’s Rare Books and Special Collections in order for the students to have access to a wide range of examples. Since this course is being taught for the first time as a distance education course, students are exposed to an even greater array of resources online. As Ross Harvey, instructor for the course, describes it: “In this online course this experience [with the Rare Books and Special Collections] is replaced with links to online materials, especially images, that come from a very wide range of countries and periods – from Sumerian clay tablets and Roman writing tablets, to medieval manuscripts and modern romance novels”. This online experience creates a much broader exposure as the range and variety of materials available online is much greater than what most individual libraries and collections can offer.
Over the duration of the term, students will learn how the book developed (including the technologies used over time to develop them), how the printing trade was organized and what the effects of this were on the spread of information, how printing became an important component of social change, and how electronic publications and the digital text are changing the book and its users.
Harvey has been developing and delivering online courses since 1996. This has allowed him to gain experience and experiment with many virtual and online tools to help students with their learning: “I’m constantly interested in the possibilities that evolving technology brings to provide students with new kinds of learning experiences”. In the course, students are invited to use an interactive atlas of early printing as well as make their own incunabulum (a book printed before 1500). Likewise, there is a strong emphasis on online student participation through online postings on the discussion boards in addition to contributions to an entry on an “Encyclopaedia of the Book” for the course wiki. The final project is a biography of a book which students will make available to their peers for online review.
Today, as the trend of the published book goes digital, it is important to comprehend the evolution of this essential academic tool. Knowing the book’s past will help students understand the influence that its development will have on our cultural and social progression.