“The way books are written has changed.
The canvas for books has changed.
The post-published life of a book has changed.”

Craig Mod, a writer and photographer, has a great perspective on post artifacts. There is a summary of the sections 1. The Book, a System 2. Pre-artifact Systems 2a. Examples 3. No Longer Great, nor Immutable Artifact 4. Post-artifact Systems 5. Shifting Expectations

The authors idea of the post artifact system is very interesting.

the post artifact system is a system of unlocking. It is concerned with engamnet, sharing, ownership, and obviously reading. Its basically creates books into the shared system/interface.

Growing up I didn’t really have or use digital technology until i was about 12 and even then I did not really use it. It wasn’t until iPads were brought into the school system that I began doing digital reading and using web as a source of information and entertainment. It was always hard copy of textbooks and actual books. I enjoyed hard copy better when I was younger, but the older I get the easier digital things are for me and for me to comprehend.

I belive digital publishing of books and other things are very helpful in today’s world since just about everyone has a laptop, tablet, or smartphone but occasionally I do love to just read a book in my hand and on paper.

Craig Mod reveals that the post-artifact system is a system that turns books from a secluded vessel for holding the work inside to something that can be looked into through other peoples. That, is Mod’s words, it is “A system of unlocking. A system concerned with engagement. Sharing. Marginalia. Ownership. Community. And, of course, reading.” For books people enjoy reading, they can highlight parts that they enjoy reading or something that catches their eye during the reading and can discuss with other people. Not only for books, but for other works as well, such as magazines and blog posts.

For me when it comes to the web as a main source for information only, it was always easy to get to and hear other people’s responses to how to find an answer to a question that I was having trouble for. If I just wanted to go for entertainment, Youtube has a lot of content created by other people where they can get feedback by those who watch their content and try to figure out how to improve it in the future to make it better. Also, some different YouTubers are in certain communities where they would do collaborations with one another and connect their followers. Another thing if I wanted to connect to other people, there are many social media platforms that I can connect with others and share things with others such as ides that I have or funny things that have happened during that week. The web helps everyone connect to one another and allows everyone to share ideas and new connections with new people.

While modern publishing provides the convenience of revision and delivers ideas to the masses at an instance, growing up alongside the internet and technology hasn’t always been as convenient as this essay says to be. Yes, we do have scholarly journals at our fingertips and information is as accessible as asking for it, however, when it comes to publication for students, we still have the shuffle of finding textbooks for the right price every semester. Paperback and hardback novels are still thriving in the modern day. It comes at a premium to get print and resources.

With CGI improving and hardware development accelerating year by year, digital storytelling and modern media become a fairytale turn to life. Technology has grown exponentially faster than we as a society could have foreseen. It’s important to take an introspective look for we as developers have become so adaptable and keep finding ways to ingrain uses for pocket-sized supercomputers. But still, when it comes to organization and record keeping, what remains constant is ink and paper. In terms of digital organization, it’s an extra step to maintain digital formats, this is just another example of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Craig Mod explains Post-Artifact Systems as the space where one engages with the artifact through reading, marginalia, and other readers. Mod explains that this system is one “that transforms the book from isolated vessel for text into a shared interface.” With books, this can be highlighting sections or writing down notes in the margins. Beyond books, online platforms and services allow readers to share their thoughts, creating a more collaborative space. Digital books allow highlighting, annotating, and jotting down notes within the program. The author talks about the ability to export these notes and highlights to share with others or allow access to a community’s notes.

Growing up with the web as a primary source of information and entertainment, there have always been opportunities for collaboration. Watching Youtube videos, there is a comment section. Now there is also the community page where content creators can post to their board and people can comment or vote in a poll. Getting digital books for classes, there is always an option to highlight within the program and add notes for future use. Thinking of social media as well, the main point of posting is engagement and interaction. You can follow people, share posts both privately and publically, comment, and repost. These collaborative spaces are multimedia, combining sound, text, pictures, and videos. These are all good collaborative opportunities for content creators to improve their work in real-time and the future. There is also the factor of always having an immense amount of information at our fingertips at every moment. It only takes a few seconds to look up a question and receive the answer you’re looking for. With this comes more time for collaboration and interaction with the information and community rather than searching for information.

“It’s the system that transforms the book from isolated vessel for text into a shared interface” (Mod).

Mod’s ideas about post-artifact books and publishing are interesting, if not a bit hard to digest. What stood out to me was his description of post-artifact publishing and how marginalia are essentially side notes and thoughts (Mod). I didn’t truly grasp what he meant until I reviewed the text, but marginalia really is similar to how many people can interact with and view content online. It’s as he said, “a shared interface” (Mod).

When I was younger, I grew up with technology within arms reach. I spent a lot of time on the computer, both for video games, videos, news, and stories. I would consume more media digitally than physically as it was easier and faster to access. Some websites I would go to shared content or information and allowed user discussion, such as online news sites or story-sharing sites. As I understand it, these are examples of that shared interface. Mod further said, “Digital marginalia is a collective conversation, cumulative stratum” (Mod). This correlates with the websites I mentioned in that people can discuss things they read online with other readers. They can give reviews, highlight sections of interest, theorize, and otherwise talk with each other.

Works Cited

Mod, Craig. “Post-Artifact Books & Publishing.” CraigMod, June 2011, https://craigmod.com/journal/post_artifact/.

“The digital artifact, therefore, is a scaffolding between pre- and post- artifact systems” (Mod)

 

The scaffolding between two systems of written texts. One being physical and digital but more important, an experience being individual versus collective. Pre social media, a collective experience consisted of a chat room on a game site. That’s what I remember while playing online checkers. Grade school was about ask Jeeves which was founded in 1996. Two years later, Google was born. It was at this time that I was using hard copy encyclopedias because owning a computer in the nineties was for a higher tax bracket. My entertainment on a computer was pinball, spider solitaire, and mine sweeper.  

“We own it, but yet, don’t.” (Mod) In my mind, not owning the physical copy of a book is much a letdown as not finishing it. I value the reminder of that book I read as a memento on my shelf. We need to research an idea for a reward system. Not only a kindle library but a way to record that personal journey between the reader and the text. Something tangible that is as meaningful as the codex.

Now entering the world of the “post-artifact system,” the scope consists of the functionality within the audience packaged with the collective text and its system of creators. We ask ourselves as digital publishers; what experience do you want to give the reader? A virtual book club? A question-and-answer session? A reader list of summaries or reviews? The possibilities are endless. Other aids for the reader might be outside the scope of the text itself but perhaps marginalia that could include an author’s commentary. Like a director’s cut but even better. For in the artifact system, the original manuscript is often changed to fit the publishers’ criteria. Only now, do we define our own limits for the book.  

“The digital artifact, therefore, is a scaffolding between the pre- and post- artifact systems.”

Mod’s perspective on post-artifact is a very interesting set of ideas. First off, Mod introduces the three systems of books: the pre-artifact system, the system of the artifact, and the post-artifact system. The pre-artifact system is where the book is made. The artifact is the book and the post-artifact system is when we interact with the book. One thing I like in the reading is how Mod asks ‘How do we change books to make them digital?’ And ‘How does digital change books?’

The digital artifact is a bridge between pre- and post- artifact systems in which it carries the elements of a book but can constantly change.

“When you look at the same digital book tomorrow, it may very well be different from the version you read today…For only the briefest of instances — seconds, perhaps, for popular authors — does the digital edition of a book exist in this static, classic, ‘complete’ form.”

As I reflect on my own experience with using the web as a source of information and entertainment, I realize just how fast-paced it is as the web is constantly changing to fit the present/future. While similar to books in which I can browse and read, post-artifact systems give me a chance to interact and engage with other real people’s thoughts and feelings, I am able to teach and learn from others in a fast-paced environment, such as Wikipedia, as mentioned by Mod. Wikipedia is compared to encyclopedia’s and is often changing unlike the physical capabilities of encyclopedias. One experience I thought of when hearing how the web can constantly change is updates on information, the change of views from the public on what they deem appropriate or not, etc.

Mod draws a comparison that illustrates the paradigm shift brought about by electronic publishing in stark terms: comparing the encyclopedia to Wikipedia. Growing up my father had a two volume leather-bound Encyclopedia Brittanica set. When I was younger, maybe 7 to 10, I read those occasionally like the weird little kid I was. I remember thinking about how much time it must have taken to put them together. To spell check, collate, make sure references in the index go to the right pages, etc.

Electronic publishing has not so greatly changed the world that spell checking and formatting aren’t necessary, I’ve been paid to do it, but it’s Mod discussion of the publishing timeline that struck me the most.

1. We can continuously develop a text in realtime, erasing the preciousness imbued by printing. And because of this …

2. Time itself becomes an active ingredient in authorship (in contrast to authorship happening in a seemingly timeless place, a finished product suddenly emerging).
   -Craig Mod

Compared with something like Wikipedia the staid tomes that comprise an encyclopedia set seem terribly static and immutable. This might be a consequence of the pace that the world lives at now. Time spent agonizing over the print details of a book that will be out of date by the time the editing, proofing, printing, shipping, and sale are done seems wasted.

Like most people born in the late naughts, as Mod put it, I grew up largely in a world of books and paper, with screens being static objects like a television or personal computer. This was changing as I grew up with the proliferation of cell phones, GameBoys, and laptops. Now that smartphones are seemingly ubiquitous and a vast network interconnects all of these devices I think that has fundamentally changed the pace that the world functions at. As the pace has changed so too has the nature of the information we want to access.

In his essay Post-Artifact Book, Craig Mod discusses what makes the pre-artifacts and post-artifacts different from one another and their importance in shaping digital publishing. According to Mod, he states that “This is the post-artifact system. A system of unlocking. A system concerned with engagement. Sharing. Marginalia. Ownership. Community. And, of course, reading,” (Mod). It is through the post-artifact system that we as readers are able to look at books as not merely isolated vessels from which we obtain our information and knowledge but to look at them as more of a shared interface in which we can engage with one another. Additionally, with the post-artifact system, there is also participation in the production of “digital marginalia,” as Mod calls it, that allows for everyone to not only participate but also create a new experience for future readers within that text. Now, in reflecting on my own growing up with the web as a source of information and entertainment keeping this reading in mind I was able to realize just how easy and accessible it is to find the information that you need for anything. Additionally, not only was the web easy to use and accessible for finding information, but it also created more of a collaborative experience with others as you are connected to the whole world right at your fingertips. The web certainly makes life easier, but I also feel as though there is a loss in being able to actively want to learn things since you can just find the answers to everything so easily, but this is also not to say that I don’t want the web because let’s be honest without it we would struggle immensely.

The author lists some ideas throughout the article. The first idea that mod brings up is the book as a system. Books are seen as systems as they have processes that make them into a system. With the book they have a variety of systems just like there are different types of books. The pre-artifact system, The system of the artifact, post-artifact system. The pre-artifact system is where the book is made. It has been a system of isolation and the author, editor and publisher are involved in the system. The product of this system is the book. System of the artifact Is also a book. Post-artifact is also like a book talk approach where people talk about what they have read. Digital changes the way these systems are approached. Digital takes the book away from these systems because of the increase in connectivity. The book changes drastically such as the book not being the same as it was yesterday, and you will see something else tomorrow because the book can be changed easily while a print book cannot be changed easily. Engagement with other readers is easy and continuous. The commentary can even be archived for future readers to look back on and reference if they come across the public record for commentary. The artifact systems in this case no longer make sense as because the publishing system for digital books has been changed from print books. When I was growing up and finding information on the web it was easy and accessible while other times it was not as easy because sometimes the content, I was looking for would be behind a paywall but the things I did end up finding I could utilize for research. Most things that I found on the web can be updated easily and sometimes search terms can even be updated. It is easy to find information digitally as you don’t need to go to the library to sort through physical books that may not be up to date. The information on the web will tell you if it is up to date which is another reason why digital is the way to go.

“A book, in its purest form, is a phenomenon of space and time and dimensionality that is unique unto itself. When we turn the page, the previous page passes into our past and we are confronted by a new world” – Dick Higgins, “A Book”

Each “book” is unique in its own way with how it is made for every story that is told. That “book” could be through a certain format with how they should be told, how they can be move forward, and how they should be viewed. There are many forms that a “book” can be told through with examples being movies, physical books, digital books, video games, VR and AR. As we move forward within the “books” through their own story structure, we explore that “book’s” space/time area within that specific “book”. The “book” becomes a part of our experience as we move forward within that story: it’s past becomes our past as we explore its world the more we dive deeper within that story. The more “books” that are within the digital databases, the higher the chances that those “books” will be able to keep those worlds and their space/time within the culture and be able to mixed with the next generation’s future. Not only that, more “books” will be able to become part of that space/time area and it will keep expanding as those “books” are created and put into the digital database. So as long as we keep putting these “books” within the digital database, the more that we are able to explore the new worlds those “books” bring along with them.

For the book that I enjoy the most, it would be “I’m Not Leaving” by Carl Wilkens which was published in 2011. It is based on the author’s experience of what happened as an American in 1994 during the Rwanda genocide as he stayed there in order to keep those who could not leave Rwanda safe from the Genocide. The book explains Wilken’s experience of deciding to stay while his family left for safety then to what he did to help the people of both sides of the Genocide with it ending with him being back with his family.

Carl Wilkens and his wife Teresa Wilkens

This book touched me a lot when I first read it because I felt like I was there experiencing it with Wilkens. Even if some parts of the story were hard to read due to how it occurs during a genocide, it helped me see that one person’s decisions can make a difference no matter how big or small it might be. It also tells how that even though the two groups of Rwandans could have been neighbors for years, they could feel resentment with one another that could lead to bloodshed. The last thing is that this was not a made up story, it actually happened and it impacted me because sometimes historians try to make the past seem all fun even with wars and genocides. This book shows all the bad that happens and how it hurt so many people including Wilkens.

“Amazon offers us the same “book” in paperback or Kindle edition, at slightly different prices, with the digital edition often costing as much as the print now that publishers can control their own ebook process.” 

This is a large reason why I stopped purchasing books on my Kindle and went back to physical ones. Ebooks don’t need to be stored anywhere, they don’t need to be shipped, they don’t even need to be handled by anyone. It stands to reason that they should be cheaper than physical books, but they aren’t. Another reason I don’t purchase digital books is that I don’t actually own them. A lot of the content that people consume daily is stuff they can lose access to at any time. Personally I use Spotify, Steam, and Netflix daily. All of these are just digital libraries that I pay to have access to. We’re even seeing features in cars that can only be accessed if you pay a subscription. I think that with the revival of things such as records and physical books, people are realizing that having a tactile object is important. That’s why I think that physical books will continue to grow in sales and popularity in the future.