Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Select, Display, and Sell : Curation practices in the bookshop

Steiner, Ann LU (2017) In LOGOS 28(4). p.18-31
Abstract
Bookshops are one of the most visible places for books in public space. No bookshop can ever offer every book available; rather it is in its selection that each bookshop is unique. Value, writes Michael Bhaskar in Curation (2016), no longer resides in access, but in curation—in selecting and arranging. The article argues that curating practices in bookshops can be mapped from four main aspects: space, selection, display, and experience. In order to understand the day-to-day practices in a bookshop, and the different form of curation that takes place, an ethnographic observation study was performed. The results in this study point to the bookshop being a place where more than books are sold: there is also selling the experience and... (More)
Bookshops are one of the most visible places for books in public space. No bookshop can ever offer every book available; rather it is in its selection that each bookshop is unique. Value, writes Michael Bhaskar in Curation (2016), no longer resides in access, but in curation—in selecting and arranging. The article argues that curating practices in bookshops can be mapped from four main aspects: space, selection, display, and experience. In order to understand the day-to-day practices in a bookshop, and the different form of curation that takes place, an ethnographic observation study was performed. The results in this study point to the bookshop being a place where more than books are sold: there is also selling the experience and sensation of being in a bookshop. In the borderlands of culture and commerce, bookshops are important curators of books. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
Bookstores are one of the most visible places for books in the public space. No bookstore can ever offer every book available; rather it is in its selection that each bookstore is unique. Value, writes Michael Bhaskar in Curation (2016), no longer resides in access, but in curation – in selecting and arranging. The article argues that curating practices in bookstores can be mapped from four main aspects: space, selection, display, and experience. In order to understand the day-to-day practices in a bookstore, and the different form of curation that takes place, an ethnographic observation study was performed. The results in this study point to the bookstore being a place where more than books are sold: there is also selling the experience... (More)
Bookstores are one of the most visible places for books in the public space. No bookstore can ever offer every book available; rather it is in its selection that each bookstore is unique. Value, writes Michael Bhaskar in Curation (2016), no longer resides in access, but in curation – in selecting and arranging. The article argues that curating practices in bookstores can be mapped from four main aspects: space, selection, display, and experience. In order to understand the day-to-day practices in a bookstore, and the different form of curation that takes place, an ethnographic observation study was performed. The results in this study point to the bookstore being a place where more than books are sold: there is also selling the experience and sensation of being in a bookstore. In the borderlands of culture and commerce, bookstores are important curators of books. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
literary value, book sales, curation, bookshops
in
LOGOS
volume
28
issue
4
pages
18 - 31
publisher
Brill
external identifiers
  • scopus:85043606652
ISSN
0957-9656
DOI
10.1163/1878-4712-11112138
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
42db1ee3-f3ac-4318-b9a2-58bfa3f86dda
date added to LUP
2018-02-01 15:07:36
date last changed
2024-01-14 14:35:08
@article{42db1ee3-f3ac-4318-b9a2-58bfa3f86dda,
  abstract     = {{Bookshops are one of the most visible places for books in public space. No bookshop can ever offer every book available; rather it is in its selection that each bookshop is unique. Value, writes Michael Bhaskar in Curation (2016), no longer resides in access, but in curation—in selecting and arranging. The article argues that curating practices in bookshops can be mapped from four main aspects: space, selection, display, and experience. In order to understand the day-to-day practices in a bookshop, and the different form of curation that takes place, an ethnographic observation study was performed. The results in this study point to the bookshop being a place where more than books are sold: there is also selling the experience and sensation of being in a bookshop. In the borderlands of culture and commerce, bookshops are important curators of books.}},
  author       = {{Steiner, Ann}},
  issn         = {{0957-9656}},
  keywords     = {{literary value; book sales; curation; bookshops}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{4}},
  pages        = {{18--31}},
  publisher    = {{Brill}},
  series       = {{LOGOS}},
  title        = {{Select, Display, and Sell : Curation practices in the bookshop}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1878-4712-11112138}},
  doi          = {{10.1163/1878-4712-11112138}},
  volume       = {{28}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}