BookNET: a network for the technological study of the book and manuscript as artefact

书籍是我们文化遗产的主要组成部分之一，我们所说的“书籍”是指任何主要目的是传达文献信息（包括图像和文本）的便携式物体。几个世纪以来，人们一直致力于调查和解释书面文件的内容，但相比之下，对媒介本身的关注相对较少。事实上，把书作为实物的研究在某种程度上落后于对其他文化对象（如架上绘画）的技术研究。我们建议把那些积极研究这本书的人聚集在一起（包括文学和历史学者，研究科学家，以及图书馆馆长和图书保管员）在一个研究集群，并通过结合这些专业知识与相关学科的经验，为这样的研究产生一个研究议程。因为了解书籍的生活史是理解其内容的一个重要贡献。我们也将对物质对象的各种元素的转化的性质以及这对保护实践的影响感兴趣。本书各组成部分之间的相互作用将是一个重要的考虑因素。因此，它也谈到了“转型的本质”这一主题。该研究组将建立在现有的研究网络，“图书研究中心”（牛津大学博德利图书馆、大英图书馆、莱顿大学图书馆、巴伐利亚州立图书馆、慕尼黑和普林斯顿大学）。我们相信，这项活动将促成一个步骤-在评估信息内容时考虑书籍物理性质的方式发生变化，并将提醒世界，实体书包含的信息比数字化图像所能表示的更多。产出将是一份总结研究现状的文件，并为未来的跨学科研究制定战略。

The book is one of the major components of our cultural heritage - by 'book' we mean any portable object whose prime purpose is to convey documentary information (including images and text). For centuries vast effort has been devoted to investigating and interpreting the content of written documents, but, in comparison, relatively little attention has been paid to the medium itself. In fact, the study of the book as a physical object lags some way behind the technical study of other cultural objects (such as easel paintings). We propose to bring together those who are active in the study of the book (including literary and historical scholars, research scientists, as well as library curators and book conservators) in a Research Cluster, and, by commbining this expertise with experience from related disciplines, generate a research agenda for such a study.A major interest of the Research Cluster will be within the theme 'Authenticity, authentication and security', since a knowledge of the life histories of books is an essential contribution to understanding their content in context. We will also be interested in the nature of transformation of the various elements of the material objects, and the implications of this for conservation practice. The interaction between the various components of the book will be an important consideration here. As such, it also speaks to the theme 'nature of transformation'..The Research Cluster will build on an existing research network, the 'Centre for the Study of the Book' (a partnership between the Bodleian Library, Oxford, the British Library, Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden, Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, Munich and Princeton University).We believe that this activity will precipitate a step-change in the way in which the physical nature of the book is taken into account when the information content is evaluated, and will remind the world that the physical book contains more information than can be represented as a digitized image. The output will be a document which summarizes the current state of research, and generates a strategy for futre interdisciplinary research.