Creativity and curiosity took center stage April 29 as the NIU BookLab Crafting Knowledge event brought together students, faculty and staff for a celebration of book arts and literary scholarship. Throughout the day, attendees explored library collections, participated in interactive activities and engaged with innovative approaches to research and creative
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Please join us in congratulating Beth McGowan and Melissa Adams-Campbell on their successful presentation at this year’s Huskie Trek Talks: Ideas in Motion. Their talk showcased the BookLab’s role in fostering hands-on learning and strengthening students’ critical thinking, while emphasizing the importance of using AI as a tool rather than
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How do reading and writing technologies shape the way we think and write? With the rise of generative artificial intelligence, social media, and other changes in today’s media landscape, this question is more important than ever. It highlights the role technology plays in human thinking, argument, and the global exchange
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The Booklab draws on a tradition of accomplishment in the humanities at Northern Illinois University. “Part of the story of the Booklab is a generations-old story of the collections that previous curators of the Rare Books Room and English department worked to build — and how they had already been
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Although in only its first year of operation, the Booklab has already provided university students with opportunities to explore technology’s impact on culture in historical context. It also allows humanities students, in particular, to interact with existing works and create new materials of their own in new ways. NIU English
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On April 28 approximately 200 NIU students, faculty and staff members, alumni, and community members gathered on Founders Memorial Library’s fourth floor to celebrate the grand opening of the NIU Booklab. The lab is an interdisciplinary initiative originally developed by faculty members in the English Department and University Libraries, which
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In her debut article, Bosompemaa, a graduate teaching assistant for the BookLab course Technologies of the Word, takes us on an exciting journey into the world of quill cutting. She shows us how, just like the scribes of old, quills must be carefully shaped to create the perfect writing instrument.
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In this latest edition of BookLab Diaries, graduate teaching assistant Juliet Tawiah shares her personal experience diving into the world of bookbinding. With a bit of guidance from a YouTube tutorial and a handful of tools from the BookLab, Juliet embarks on her very first bookbinding project—from folding paper to
Read more Since its soft opening in January, the BookLab has been filled with exciting learning moments. In the latest edition of BookLab Diaries, graduate teaching assistant Juliet Tawiah reflects on her experience assembling her very first wooden book press. From unboxing the pieces to tightening the final bolts, this hands-on adventure
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