Mark Dimunation, Chief of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress, will give a talk on digitizing library materials. His presentation, entitled “Living with the Real Thing: From the Original to the Digital,” will take place at 4:30 p.m. on Thurs., May 10 in the Carleton College Boliou Hall, Room 141. This event is free and open to the public.
The digitizing of library collections in recent years has enabled an unprecedented availability of rare and specialty texts and information to researchers around the world. It has also lead to an increased interest in books as an art form, and for the variety of ways in which it is possible to explore information through visual models. At Carleton, the new Visualizing the Liberal Arts (Viz) initiative, seeks to enable the College to be a leader in developing innovative ways to employ visual images, media, and models to solve problems across the liberal arts. Viz has generated talks, exhibitions, a faculty development program, and workshops to enable faculty to bring visual approaches to teaching into their coursework.
A St. Olaf graduate, Dimunation has been the Chief of the Rare Book and Special Collections Division of the Library of Congress for over two decades, during which time he has been responsible for the largest rare books collection in North America, including acquiring material and developing educational programming. Prior to coming to the Library of Congress, Dimunation served as the Curator of Rare Books at Cornell University, where he also taught in the English department. Prior positions also include serving as the Assistant Chief of Acquisitions at The Bancroft Library at the University of California, Berkeley, and as Rare Book Librarian at Stanford University. Dimunation specializes in 18th and 19th century English and American printing, and has experience working with antiquarian materials as well as fine press and contemporary artist books.
This event is sponsored by the Carleton College Department of Art and Art History. For more information or disability accommodations, call (507) 222-4341. Boliou Hall is located on the Carleton campus and is accessible via Highway 19 in Northfield.
