Mo,
This reminds me of the painted libraries. I used to have some 16th
century books that had all the leather spines painted in flat color with
the titles written on them. Some libraries would paint the spines
of each subject a different color. I just called
Don
Etherington and asked if there was a specific term for this, since I
hadn't heard of one, and he said there was none. He has been in private
libraries where the spines were color coded for decoration, and we both
are under the impression that in institutional libraries it was done so
illiterate workers could help sort the books for reshelving. He has
seen it primarily in English libraries, and it was a fairly common
practice.
--
Richard
At 11:26 AM 3/25/2010, you wrote:
Henry,
A student intervention (it was actually a class art project done without
library permission) that has inspired me continually is one done
a few years back in Hunt Library where the student rearranged a whole
range of books by their similar colors. Someone could write a whole
thesis on its implications. For me it was not only beautiful, but speaks
to the possibilities of the effectiveness of how we can search and find
regardless of or in addition to what systems institutions might put in
place. Just being in that rainbow of colors made you want to explore (a
critical component in effective research!)
Mo
Mo Dawley
Art and Drama Librarian
Senior Librarian
Carnegie Mellon University
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