Digitizing the container: books as objects in the digital medium

In the past three decades, memory institutions have embraced digital technologies to enhance the accessibility and usability of digital artifacts, thus revitalizing their historical collections. While conventional digitization primarily focuses on capturing the textual and visual aspects of books, including manuscripts and printed materials, it neglects the intricate technological nature of these objects. Books, as complex tools shaped by human anatomy and usage, embody historical and material significance beyond their content. Recent initiatives have recognized the importance of preserving the materiality of books in the digital realm, going beyond conventional photographic approaches. This chapter explores how book conservators, often viewed as auxiliary figures safeguarding original artifacts, possess the expertise to interpret history through material evidence. Integrating their methodologies and insights into the digitization process proves invaluable in creating digital representations that capture the essence of books. By recognizing books as objects imbued with information and involving conservators and like-minded professionals focused on materiality, we can craft more comprehensive digital surrogates. These representations encompass both textual and material elements, ushering in a novel concept of digital libraries