About this exhibit
What happens when you need a book that isn’t on our shelves? We send it on a cross-country journey.
The work behind our global book borrowing service, Interlibrary Loan (ILL), is mostly conducted in back offices and mailrooms; it is an essential scholarly support network that often goes unseen.
In this exhibit, the Fibery Library, a team of Dartmouth librarians who investigate library-specific data in creative, unexpected ways, explore the ILL’s seemingly invisible network: its vast reach and countless collaborations. With knitted chord diagrams, a circular layout ideal for displaying inter-relationships, the Fibrarians weave a network of shared knowledge across Ivy+ Institutions. Our knitting technique also just happens to be called i-cords: a happy coincidence.
To meet the Fibrarians and see how data turns into thread, visit the Fibery Library website.
This project was supported by the Dartmouth Libraries Innovation Fund.
With many thanks to all who were involved in making this project come to life:
Samara Cary, Joanna Davidson, Elaina Vitale, Katie (Catherine) Coggins, Rachel Starr, Bridgett Bonar, Kate Soule, Veronica Golden, Laura Braunstein, Este Pope, Amy Frazier, Barbara Sterling, Jenny Mullins, Danada Dinsmore, Robin Maddalena, Amelia Looby, Simon Stone, Lilly Linden, Hanna Primeau, Emily Wiedrick, Daniel Lin. Librarians consulted on LC subjects: Elaina Vitale, Amy Witzel, Elizabeth Shand, Laura Graveline, and Tricia Martone.