From Gutenberg to Google Books: Students investigate the history of the book

Students in Associate Professor Tom Olsen’s (English) senior seminar course “From Gutenberg to Google Books” got a firsthand look at digital technology at work in the College’s very own print shop on Thursday, Oct. 16.

As part of Olsen’s course, students investigate the history of the book, beginning before the time of Gutenberg and continuing to the present day, when new digital technologies are changing not only the conceptions of what a book is, but also every aspect of the marketplace in which books are made, sold, and read.

“My basic philosophy is that you have to do book history as material history, and that means seeing things firsthand, touching things, and seeing amazing machines in action,” said Olsen.

While visiting the print shop,  students observed the process of offset printing, including how plates are made and inserted on the press, ink application, and printing.

“It was a very interested group that really seemed to appreciate the craft that goes into the offset printing process,” said Jim Lyons, print services manager. “We addressed the cost savings that offset printing offers and had an active discussion around the topic.”

According to Olsen, by offering students experiential learning opportunities like this, he hopes to impart a better understanding of and appreciation for the ways books have been designed, made, and read over history and encourage students to question, experiment, and discover in ways that lead to innovative thinking.

He noted that the class recently visited the Special Collections department at Vassar Library where the group saw writing technologies from 4,000 year-old clay tablets to a leaf of the Gutenberg Bible to some post-Gutenberg printed books.