UA Libraries Judging Books by Covers in Developing Innovative Database

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – The University of Alabama’s University Libraries will create an extensive online collection of American book covers through a federally funded project in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The Washington-based Institute of Museum and Library Services provided a grant of more than $226,000 for the project entitled “Digital Trade Bindings Online (DTBOnline): The Art and Craft of Decorative Trade Bindings, 1815-1930.”

Digital Trade Bindings Online will expand awareness of the book as an artifact and of the role trade bindings, more commonly known as book covers, play in providing a window into historical, cultural and industrial periods. The project will allow collectors, the general public, binders, book art designers, students and scholars to view, in one virtual location, a collection of up to 5,000 publishers’ trade bindings produced between 1815 and 1930.

In addition to providing access to up to four images for each binding, the project will create a searchable database accessible by design feature, publisher, bindery, designer, author, title and country of origin. The project also will provide users with an illustrated glossary of trade binding terminology as well as a bibliography and webliography of research and exhibits relating to the study of trade bindings.

“This grant is exciting because no other digital collection of trade bindings exists,” said Dr. Louis Pitschmann, dean of University Libraries and co-principal investigator for the project. “The collection will also serve as an authoritative online reference work for any library in cataloging its 19th century materials.”

The grant funding this project is one of 14 National Leadership Grants that IMLS awarded in 2003 for preserving or digitizing collections of national value. IMLS is a federal grantmaking agency located in Washington, D.C., that fosters leadership, innovation and a lifetime of learning by supporting museums and libraries.

The Internet has once again sparked a renaissance in the written word and book covers, Pitschmann said.

Book artists, readers and collectors are interested in the artistry of book covers, known as trade bindings or book bindings in the scholarly world, produced by publishing houses between 1815 and 1930.

“It’s directly because of the availability of so much information online and access to scholarly information through the Internet that there has been a renaissance in books,” Pitschmann said. “More books are being published and sold today, both popular and scholarly, than ever before.”

Decorative trade bindings cover many of the books that people have in their homes today, but their owners may be unaware of the cultural and historical significance of these bindings.

“At its most basic, what we’re doing with this project is actually judging books by their covers,” Pitschmann said. “We’re looking at what the cover represents about the aesthetic values of artists and consumers and how the cover reflects historical events and art movements in an era before paper dust jackets.”

The book covers that will be presented in this collection have such strong design elements they can be dated within a specific decade with greater than 90 percent accuracy. “One of the things we will be able to do with this project is put together a very comprehensive collection for each decade,” Pitschmann said. “We want to look at how different themes are portrayed in book covers. Sometimes different editions of the same titles have differently-themed covers.”

Some of the themes, issues and attitudes that are explored in these book covers include women and children, historical events, the exploration of the Western frontier, the Civil War, and the depiction of early automobiles and airplanes. During these years women started working at publishing houses as artists and designers and for the first time also worked creatively on teams with men.

“This is the first time in quite a number of years that the Libraries has received direct federal funding for a research project,” said Karen Croneis, associate dean for information and digital services at UA, and co-principal investigator for this project.

Jessica Lacher-Feldman, public and outreach services coordinator for the W. S. Hoole Special Collections Library, will serve as project manager.

“This project will allow us an opportunity to showcase some of our very interesting collections and develop a project that can serve as a model for other libraries,” Lacher-Feldman said. “There is also a great opportunity for students in several areas to work with the University Libraries to gain practical experience and lend their own expertise to the project.”

Steve Miller, associate professor in the School of Library and Information Studies, and coordinator of UA’s book arts program, will serve on the advisory board for the project.

“Our students will have the opportunity to work on a federal grant and to do work that’s helping to create the archive,” he said. “The project will directly support ongoing work in the book arts program. The creation of this archive will increase the history of book binding internationally and will have a strong impact on the study of books and their bindings.

“This is a visionary project,” Miller continued. “It’s impressive that Dean Pitschmann would think of filling this piece of history in such a creative way.”

The grant funding this project is one of 14 National Leadership Grants that IMLS awarded in 2003 for preserving or digitizing collections of national value. IMLS is a federal grantmaking agency located in Washington, D.C., that fosters leadership, innovation and a lifetime of learning by supporting museums and libraries.