Visual Complexity inspiration

Pop Sketch Series / Jake Elliott The Shape of Song / Martin Wattenberg Narratives 2.0 / Matthias Dittrich Visualization of iTunes Libraries / Caleb Larsen 3D Tour of Classical Music History / Anonymous Prof Mo Money Mo Problems / Nick Hardeman Chart Arcs / Martin Dittus More at www.visualcomplexity.com

A selection of libraries

Not sure what the collective noun is for libraries but (while, yes, there have been a lot of video posts this week) here are a pile of them. They probably hint at the sheer breadth of the term 'library'.

Individual ones of note include what I think is some wonderful documentation of Alvar Aalto's Vyborg Library (where its stunning modernist structure is battling decay) and the one where the kids are mucking about yet still whispering. 'The Death of a Library' one is also great although I prefer it with the sound off. All are very different in approach but, for me, food for thought.

Alvar Aalto / Vyborg Library from 0300TV on Vimeo.

Death Of A Library from Micah McCoy on Vimeo.

Library Flight from Alex Pytlarz on Vimeo.

Libraries from University of Canterbury on Vimeo.

Library from Joey Buckley on Vimeo.

The External Examiner recommends the Adobe Bookstore

The External Examiner came in today for a chat about the course and our work. It was really interesting. He was enthusiastic when I talked about this project with him and mentioned the above: San Francisco's Adobe Bookstore.

Originally created as an installation by artist Chris Cobb back in 2004, all the books are arranged by colour. There's a notice about the project via the McSweeney's site: a literary project here from writer Dave Eggers (who incidentally wrote one of my favourite books).

As you can see from the pictures, it is visually effective but also could be practical in some settings. Personally, I always refer to colour when looking for a particular book (or CD) at home. I'm not sure how this might work in the university library, for example. Especially in terms of the system's relationship to the online catalogue. But pretty all the same.

Anyway, when I outlinined potential final outcomes with the External Examiner, he also observed that I would be "classifying the classified". I thought that I should quickly jot that down too.