IN WHICH ARE LOGGED THE CONTENTS OF THE SCRAP PAPER BIN OF THE ROSE READING ROOM OF THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY AT 42ND AND 5TH

Wednesday 7 October 2009

Some Thoughts on Pictures in the Scrap Paper Bin

[If there is a picture in the bin, do I scan it in or do I describe it? There's something unpretentious about scanning in the picture, but there's something useful about describing it in words - the logging process is a sort of transcribing into words of the meaning ofpictures in the bin. Written descriptions take control of the meaning of the picture - which is good because this enterprise is about words and the pact a picture viewer makes with the culture is different to the pact a reader makes. We need to keep things consistent.

By simply typing in a diner receipt I learned a little about how diner receipts work; by describing the picture, and not showing it to the reader, I ape the language of the library and if the description is frustrating then so sometimes are libraries. This is a collection of words rather than of things, mainly, but Lord knows I need some imagery in here so maybe the pictures as described can be that.

That said, there's some interest in the typographical so maybe there will be pictures, but only of intersting-looking pages (smudges etc. where the ambiguity is given to the reader to work out). But the focus has to be on deciphering and on the ways words can mean things in an unplanned context.]

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