Faculty | June 15, 2012

Videos of student projects from Jeffrey Schnapp's "Library Test Kitchen" course

Watch videos of Library Test Kitchen student projects, including a WiFi cold spot, a Neo-Carrel sleeping chair, and “library friend” Biblio.

What form should Harvard libraries assume in the twenty-first century? Should they simply vanish into virtual desktops and merge into a timeless and placeless universal database? These are the questions that students in the course "Bibliotheca II: Library Test Kitchen," taught by professor of Romance languages and literatures Jeffrey Schnapp, tackled this past spring, and that culminated in a variety of student projects that “define new dimensions of the library experience.” (Learn more about the course, and about efforts across the University to bring digital advances to bear on the humanities, with these links.)

Below, watch videos on several of the projects, including a Neo-Carrel sleeping chair created by Graduate School of Design student Vera Baranova; a WiFi cold spot; and Biblio, a “library friend” that scans books, tracks and shares research, and even makes bibliographic recommendations for further study (both projects created by Ben Brady, M.Arch ’12).

&nbsp">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5yWLo9piwMc] 

You might also like

Historic building surrounded by trees, with people gathering in a park setting.

FAS Readies for Administrative Transition

Faculty leaders say layoffs will yield $20 million in annual savings.

Panoramic view of Harvard University with autumn foliage and a river under a cloudy sky.

When Government Funding Dropped, Harvard Found Partners

The University is expanding industry ties and investing its own funds to support research, but neither will replace lost federal dollars.

A man with glasses, wearing a black suit and white shirt, smiling against a dark background.

Jason Furman: Capitalism Is Working. It Could Work Better.

On Open to Debate, the Harvard economist defended free market competition—with meaningful government involvement.

Most popular

A woman jogs on a path beside a boy riding a bicycle, surrounded by trees.

Explore More From Current Issue

Ancient Egyptian painted sarcophagus with detailed hieroglyphs and a woman's face.

Museums & Collections

A rare Egyptian mummy case is on display at the Harvard Museum of the Ancient Near East.

Illustration of a phone, book, hourglass, weights, and a hand reaching for a device on a blue background.

Letters to the Editor

Your thoughts on how to regulate the platforms—and stop using them so much

Black and white portrait of a woman with medium-length hair, smiling softly.

Alumni

The outgoing executive director and Harvard Business School graduate went from dancing The Nutcracker to growing a ballet company.