Episode 562: Tech's Tactile Thursday Talk - podcast episode cover

Episode 562: Tech's Tactile Thursday Talk

Jun 16, 20231 hr 1 minEp. 562
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Episode description

Catherine Manci, Public Programming & Community Engagement Specialist for the Georgia Tech Library and Anna Doll, Education Curator at the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking

First broadcast June 16 2023.

Transcript; Playlist at  https://www.wrek.org/2023/06/playlist-for-lost-in-the-stacks-for-june-16-2023-techs-tactile-thursday-talk-episode-562/

"Alliteration!"

Transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

AUTOMATED VOICE

Tactile-- --adjective-- --tangible-- perceptible to the sense of touch-- --used for feeling-- --of or relating to the sense of touch-- --tactile.

[TELEVISION, "FRICTION"]

AUTOMATED VOICE

CHARLIE BENNETT

You are listening to WREK Atlanta. And this is Lost in the Stacks, the research-library rock and roll radio show. I'm Charlie Bennett in the studio with Fred Rascoe and a couple of guests to be named later. Each week on Lost in the Stacks we pick a theme and then use it to create a mix of music and library talk. Whichever you tune in for, we hope you dig it.

FRED RASCOE

And our show today is called "Tech's Tactile Thursday Talk."

CHARLIE BENNETT

T-t-t-t-t.

FRED RASCOE

T-t-t-t-- --it's very alliterative, meaning we are going to talk about some library programming called Tech's Tactile Thursdays. CHARLIE BENNETT: Let's unpack that. So Tech's Tactile Thursdays are events that happen at the Georgia Tech Library on select Thursdays where students can attend a hands-on workshop that involves the creative use of paper. So Georgia Tech creative tactile workshops on some Thursdays.

CHARLIE BENNETT

I mean, that's the long title, yeah.

FRED RASCOE

Can you give me some examples of those creative uses of paper and why paper in particular?

CHARLIE BENNETT

You got it. OK, origami, bookmaking, and painting, just to name a few examples. And the paper probably comes from the fact that this is a collaboration between the library and the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking, fun fact, which is itself a part of the Renewable Bioproducts Institute, which is an interdisciplinary research institute here at Georgia Tech.

FRED RASCOE

Well, in that case, I hope that we have a guest from that museum.

CHARLIE BENNETT

We sure do, and from the library.

FRED RASCOE

Perfect. So to go along with the creative uses of paper in Tech's Tactile Thursdays--

CHARLIE BENNETT

Are you going to hit that--

FRED RASCOE

T-t-t-t--

CHARLIE BENNETT

--every time? OK.

FRED RASCOE

--t-t-t-t-t. Our songs today are about materiality, feeling, and t-transformations.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Oh, I like it.

FRED RASCOE

But let's use our opening song to honor another part of the events. This is "Thursday" by Morphine--

CHARLIE BENNETT

Oh, right on.

FRED RASCOE

--right here on Lost in the Stacks.

[MORPHINE, "THURSDAY"]

FRED RASCOE

CHARLIE BENNETT

Yeah, that was "Thursday" by Morphine, definitely not about paper or tactile things. This is Lost in the Stacks. And today's show is called "Tech's Tactile Thursday Talk."

FRED RASCOE

Was it about Thursday? Well, it's called "Thursday."

CHARLIE BENNETT

It's called "Thursday," and a game of pool.

FRED RASCOE

On the show today are the organizers of "Tech's Tactile Thursdays at the Georgia Tech Library, Catherine Manci and Anna Doll.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Catherine Manci, returning guest, is the Public Programming and Community Engagement Specialist for the Georgia Tech Library.

FRED RASCOE

And Anna Doll is the Education Curator at the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking. Anna and Catherine, welcome to the show. CATHERINE MANCI: Thanks for having us.

ANNA DOLL

We're happy to be here today.

CHARLIE BENNETT

All right, they are sharing a mic, everyone. We have not enough mics in this studio.

FRED RASCOE

It's college radio.

CHARLIE BENNETT

All right? So let's talk about what those job titles actually mean. Catherine, let's start with you. You can refresh the audience if they've been long-time listeners. What do you do?

CATHERINE MANCI

Well, my job is the Public Programming and Community Engagement Librarian, so I organize events, author talks, symposia for the Georgia Tech Library, as well as facilitating connections with our local community.

CHARLIE BENNETT

OK. So you run the public programming.

CATHERINE MANCI

Yes. CHARLIE BENNETT: [LAUGHS] And Anna, what is the Education Coordinator at the Museum of Papermaking?

ANNA DOLL

So as the Education Curator, I handle all the public programming for the museum, both campus-facing and community-facing. So that includes tours, workshops for varying ages, as well as curriculum development and community engagement and relationship development-- all of those things with artists, our attendees, et cetera.

CHARLIE BENNETT

And so when the museum first came into my knowledge of the Georgia Tech neighborhood, it was not actually part of Georgia Tech. A lot of different things happened. What's the Renewable Bioproducts Institute? How does this relate to the museum?

ANNA DOLL

That's a good question and one we get frequently. So as you said, the Renewable Bioproducts Institute actually used to be the Institute of Paper Science and Technology and merged with Georgia Tech in the early 2000s. And the museum was already a part of the Institute at that time when it merged, so we stayed then as a part of the Renewable Bioproducts Institute. But paper is a renewable resource.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Right.

ANNA DOLL

And there are scientists in the building studying things related to paper, such as nanocellulose and lignin and things of that nature.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Lignin, my favorite vanilla-scented compound. OK, so how did you all connect to make Tech's Tactile Thursdays happen. CATHERINE MANCI: Funny you should ask-- [LAUGHS]

CATHERINE MANCI

--because in preparation for this, we each asked each other how we met, and neither of us could remember, which is really odd because we both started at Georgia Tech in 2019. So it's not like it was a long time ago. But we did a little research.

CHARLIE BENNETT

A lot has happened since 2019.

CATHERINE MANCI

Yeah, you know, as many may know, a pandemic started soon after we began working here. But we did a little research. And we met on a collaboration with the Library and Papermaking Museum for the Fast Film Fest. And neither of us really remember meeting. We just remember having a meeting when we were working from home during the pandemic. And we came up with this idea. And next thing we knew, we were collaborators from then on.

But I think it kind of speaks to our working relationship that neither of us could remember not knowing the other one.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Nice.

ANNA DOLL

Yeah, we had a rather good laugh about that yesterday. We both were feeling a smidge guilty that we didn't remember how we met. And neither of us were both a little hesitant to admit that.

[CHUCKLES]

ANNA DOLL

CHARLIE BENNETT: The only reason I know how I met Fred is because it was at a wedding. Yeah, you got a significant event, right? Your jobs are very similar, too, right? You're kind of doing the same thing for each institution, so the collaboration must have been natural. What was the instigating moment for the idea of Tech's Tactile Thursdays? So the museum does a lot of programming with the public.

And we were already doing a little bit with the Georgia Tech Campus and with custom workshops for some professors or with the Student Services. And we wanted to expand how we were relating to the college students here on campus. And we're located on the edge of campus, so that is really not ideal for getting students all the way over to us and helping them see us as a resource. So we really wanted to find a better way to connect with our college students.

And Catherine, it was like, I have a space. We have this new AIR space room that's coming with the library remodel. And I was like, I can bring the programming. And it kind of just seamlessly blended. CHARLIE BENNETT: What's the AIR space?

CATHERINE MANCI

AIR space is our artist in residence space. But there's times when that space isn't activated. And so when we met, I knew that we wanted to have some arts-based programming in there in addition to what our artist in residence was doing.

FRED RASCOE

I have to imagine too that the collaboration-- maybe I'm wrong about this. But I imagine that the collaboration came about because, you know, paper, libraries.

CHARLIE BENNETT

[CHUCKLES]

FRED RASCOE

Libraries are so-- we're so--

CHARLIE BENNETT

Fred-- FRED RASCOE: --adamant on saying-- --this is not the party line. What are you doing?

FRED RASCOE

I know, libraries are adamant saying, we're not just these paper books. We're so much more. But, you know, we are identified with paper books a lot-- papermaking, a library-- that seems like kind of a natural synthesis there.

CATHERINE MANCI

It's kind of the heart of libraries, right? It's the genesis. CHARLIE BENNETT: And I keep seeing when I was looking at things about Tech's Tactile Thursdays something like the word return kept coming around. Is this a programming venture that had a form beforehand? Or was that like COVID stuff? I don't even know.

ANNA DOLL

So we've long been offering workshops in that style but not specifically to our college students here on the Georgia Tech Campus. And certainly, COVID played a big role in it. Catherine and I both felt that there was a need with the college students for a type of program that focused on kind of health and wellness and well-being and would allow them a creative outlet outside of their schooling. And creativity is wonderful for getting ideas flowing.

And so we thought that that would be a good starting place.

CHARLIE BENNETT

So to finish the segment off, can you just describe what one particular workshop might be, sort of how the flow goes?

CATHERINE MANCI

Yeah, so we meet now in the library. And we have about 24 students for each workshop. And so before the workshop begins, Anna and I prep whatever materials, so we purchase materials, we prep them. So an example of one workshop is the Japanese stab binding workshop. Anna prepped all of the paper. We had to have some specialty tools. So we set everything out. Students come in. Usually, I let them choose what kind of music they want to play as people filter in. We get a lot of good.

FRED RASCOE

Has that always gone well? CATHERINE MANCI: Yeah, we learn a lot.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Nice.

CATHERINE MANCI

I mean, I now have a Chinese pop band that I love.

ANNA DOLL

[CHUCKLES]

CATHERINE MANCI

And so once students come in, Anna then proceeds to teach the class. And it's hands on, so people follow step by step. And by the end of the class, they've made something. They've created something.

CHARLIE BENNETT

And is this just an hour?

ANNA DOLL

It started out as just an hour. But the students just kept sticking around.

[CHUCKLES]

CHARLIE BENNETT

[LAUGHS]

ANNA DOLL

And we had trouble closing down the workshop. So we then extended the time to being an hour and a half and eventually even added a second workshop because there was such a demand.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Nice. This is Lost in the Stacks. We'll be back with more about paper and the library and Fred's joy after a music set.

FRED RASCOE

And file this set under PS366.A88E27.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

FRED RASCOE

That was "Everything You Touch" by Holly Golightly and the Brokeoffs, and before that, "Dirt" by Mission of Burma, songs about touching the material world.

[TELEVISION, "FRICTION"]

FRED RASCOE

CHARLIE BENNETT

This is Lost in the Stacks. Today's show is called "Tech's Tactile Thursday Talk," all about the series of creative workshops that has taken place at the library over the past few years.

FRED RASCOE

And our guests are the organizers of those events Catherine Manci of the Georgia Tech Library and Anna Doll of the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking. CHARLIE BENNETT: So Anna, you have served as the instructor for most of these workshops. But there's a lot of different things going on in the workshops. Did you have all of these skills, like, in your back pocket to bring? Or have you been learning a new thing every time you've had to do a workshop?

ANNA DOLL

These workshops for the most part are in what I would consider the museum playbook. They are workshops that we offer to the public as well. Now, when I first started working for the museum, I was not familiar with all of the workshops that we offer, so I did have a learning curve there, even though I've taught art for years. So yeah--

CHARLIE BENNETT

[LAUGHS]

ANNA DOLL

--for the most part, they're ones we're familiar with. But occasionally, when I go to a conference or go to a workshop and I learn something new, I can bring something then to our Tech Tactile Thursdays.

CHARLIE BENNETT

So you think of these-- these are art workshops. These are art practices. How are you choosing them? Or actually, you said most of them are already in the museum's sort of curriculum. How are those chosen? What's the larger purpose of that?

CATHERINE MANCI

Well, I can speak to this.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Oh, wow.

CATHERINE MANCI

It's a really scientific process we use where we go to lunch--

CHARLIE BENNETT

OK.

[LAUGHS]

CATHERINE MANCI

--in between semesters. And we look at the workshops we've done. And I talk with Anna about what she's taught. And we just kind of brainstorm what we think would be interesting and fun.

CHARLIE BENNETT

So, like, your portfolio of things is art practices that involve paper. But then the Tactile Thursdays is sort of your y'alls preferences.

ANNA DOLL

Yeah, and with that, I mean, I'm thinking about too, being that these are programs that we've offered from the museum before, what's been popular. And that plays into it. And paper arts is the main focus of the workshops that we do offer. So offering something that's hands on and tactile is a wonderful learning experience.

CHARLIE BENNETT

So when I was finding the examples, the easy ones for me to understand or comprehend, bookmaking, origami, painting, all three. I know what those are. There was one, cyanotypes. There was also, I think, a lantern thing. Can you talk about a few more of the activities that have been in the workshops?

ANNA DOLL

So cyanotypes is actually an early type of photography. And it uses a chemical reaction with the sunlight to create the image. And so you can put items on top of the paper, bring it outside and watch it change colors in the sun and then dip it in water. That's kind of the short, unscientific version of what happens. But the lanterns we've done-- origami folds within translucent paper-- put a little, like, tea light in there.

Or the Chinese lanterns we did this past year were inspired via Chinese New Year. They weren't actually anything that lit up. But they can be hung and are decorative.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Nice. So what are you hoping the students get out of this?

CATHERINE MANCI

Well, Anna mentioned earlier that we really care about wellness of students.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Yeah.

CATHERINE MANCI

And I think we also kind of have our own goals from each of our perspectives. So in the library, I'm really interested in research as a creative practice. And so what can participating in a creative practice do for your research practice, right? We tell students, look at a research question from every angle. So what does it mean to then in the same space look at a piece of paper from every angle to figure out how to create an origami figure? So you know, I'm interested in this idea of creation.

The library is a space of creation, both for research and also for art. And selfishly, I also just wanted students in the library having an experience that was really positive because sometimes the library can feel like a place that is stressful for finals. And so this is like a little bit of a counterbalance to that. CHARLIE BENNETT: Yeah, you framed it like a break and something that allowed the students to do something different from their normal day, sort of not STEM.

[CHUCKLES]

CATHERINE MANCI

Yes. You know, when we started, I thought that the people who would come to this would be humanities majors and maybe the college of design. But it's not. It's almost all computing students, engineering students. And I think that's the group of people that is not getting this on a regular basis. I also think we call it a break because it's just an hour and a half. And I think that's really appealing in terms of programming. You know, you're not committing to hours and hours of something.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Yeah, it's not the six-week workshop of bookbinding or something like that.

CATHERINE MANCI

Right. It's like, you come and you do it, and you're done. And that's a really nice feeling if you're an overwhelmed student or staffer.

FRED RASCOE

And Anna, does sort of the demographic of workshop attendees match what the museum gets for their classes? Or is this a different group?

ANNA DOLL

As far as our Georgia Tech students that come to see us, I would say it's fairly similar. We probably work with more of the Brittain Fellow professors and their students, so we do see more from the engineering perspective, I would say. But it's a fairly similar mix. And that's been really nice.

FRED RASCOE

Have either of you gone sort of deeper into what's happening in the students' minds or in their wellness as they do these workshops? Have you done surveys or maybe anecdotal evidence? Like, what's happening when someone does one of these workshops?

CATHERINE MANCI

Mostly anecdotal evidence. So when these workshops happen, we set the students up in groups of five typically. So they're facing each other, so you can literally look across the table and see what someone else is doing. And it kind of helps students develop with their project. But what really happens is students talk about how they're doing. And so I would say every single workshop, students say I feel so much more relaxed or, like, this was such a good break.

And now I'm going to go finish this huge lab project. And we hear that a lot. So there's a pretty explicit student response that we've heard and watched happen.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Nice.

ANNA DOLL

And it's become a really safe atmosphere for them to make friends with each other too and be inspired by what they're doing because they may look over and see what their neighbor's doing and say, hey, I want to add that element in to what I'm doing as well, which is a big part of the art world in general.

FRED RASCOE

Post-COVID, I imagine that in-person contact means more now. You are listening to Lost in the Stacks. And we will continue our "Tech's Tactile Thursday Talk"-- I really like saying that, "Tech's Tactile Thursday Talk"-- nice-- with Anna Doll and Catherine Manci on the left side of the hour.

[TELEVISION, "FRICTION"]

FRED RASCOE

ALEX MCGEE

Hi, this is Dr. Frasier Crane. I'm listening. Oh, no wait.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

ALEX MCGEE

Hi, this is Alex McGee. I am the University Archivist. And you are listening to Lost in the Stacks, the research-library rock and roll radio show on WREK Atlanta. [JAPANESE BREAKFAST, "BE SWEET"] Tell the men I'm coming. Tell them count the days. I can feel--

CHARLIE BENNETT

Today's show is called "Tech's Tactile Thursday Talk." I went digging into my books at home for a quote to really tie the room together, dude. And I found this one from How to Make Books-- Fold, Cut, and Stitch Your Way to a One-of-a-Kind Book by Esther K. Smith of Purgatory Pie Press.

[MISSION OF BURMA, "TREM TWO"]

CHARLIE BENNETT

Paper always folds better in one direction than the other. It tears straighter in that same direction too. This is because the fibers line up during paper manufacture, creating a grain. When you are figuring out your paper grain, don't trust your eyes. The paper may be wider on one side. It may seem like such a good idea to fold it in half that way. But if the grain is long instead of a squarish rectangle, you may end up with something inconveniently tall and thin.

When I was helping find books in a subbasement of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, another binder showed me her method for determining paper grain. She would close her eyes and look away and sort of bounce the paper in both directions, relying on her sense of feel to tell the difference. File this set under Z271.S632007.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

CHARLIE BENNETT

[BE YOUR OWN PET, "HEART THROB"] I can see you're looking and I really-- That was "Heart Throb" by Be Your Own Pet, and they're back, and before that, "Shape of You" by Neil Young and Crazy Horse. Those were songs about the tactile side of our emotional lives.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

CHARLIE BENNETT

FRED RASCOE

Whoa.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Hey, Fred.

FRED RASCOE

I was getting some--

CHARLIE BENNETT

You thought that was the long bump, didn't you?

FRED RASCOE

I, uh-- [LAUGHS] I'm getting tactile with my script here. I'm tactiling it all the way across the room.

CHARLIE BENNETT

This is jet-lagged Fred, everyone.

FRED RASCOE

This is Lost in the Stacks. And today's show is called "Tech's Tactile Thursday Talk."

CHARLIE BENNETT

Our guests are the organizers of Tech's Tactile Thursdays, Catherine Manci of the Georgia Tech Library and Anna Doll of the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking. So we've talked about the workshop, things that have happened, and what the students maybe are getting out of it. I'd like to know sort of how does this connect to your work? Why does this matter to you doing this kind of programming?

ANNA DOLL

So public programming is my job.

CHARLIE BENNETT

[LAUGHS]

ANNA DOLL

We work with K through 12 audiences. We work with adult audiences. And like I mentioned at the beginning of the talk today, we wanted to grow our connection with the Georgia Tech students. And Tech Tactile Thursdays was a wonderful way for us to do that. CATHERINE MANCI: For me, I mentioned before, professionally I'm really interested in research as a creative activity.

And like Anna, part of my job responsibility is to do public programming, which is a really fun and exciting job to get to think about creative ways to get people engaged in our campus community. But professionally, you know, it provides a lot of fulfillment in addition to personal fulfillment because I personally enjoy art.

CHARLIE BENNETT

And so you are getting something out of doing the workshop. Have you been doing the art, Catherine?

CATHERINE MANCI

Oh, yeah, I follow along. I usually prep ahead of time like Anna. I'm typically learning before the workshop. At the beginning of the semester, I do a little research. And then I follow along and then help students out. If they come to a point in the creation process that they can't continue, I run around and provide assistance.

CHARLIE BENNETT

[CHUCKLES] Can you try and describe-- I know this is something that's hard to put in words even when you're not on a mic. What's happening when you work with your hands, work with paper, and kind of find that place that lets you sort of let go of the stem of it all?

ANNA DOLL

That, I will say, is a little bit of a difficult question to answer. But when you start working with your hands and you're thinking through the process, there's this connection between your hands and your brain. And you kind of get into this zone of work. And we call it the artist zone. And you just get this flow happening of creativity and work.

CATHERINE MANCI: Yeah, and you know, something I think a lot about for students, especially students that have kind of come of age during a pandemic, which we're seeing these students, is what does it mean to be in your body, right? Like, when we have this largely virtual existence, what does it mean to be in your body? And sometimes it shows-- it reveals things about yourself that you weren't expecting.

So things like, people realize they can't even draw a straight line because they don't have the steadiness of hand to do that. And that's usually pretty shocking to people. I think if you asked most people, could you draw a circle or even a straight line, they would say, of course. Can you fold a piece of paper exactly in half? And they think they can. And then they realize, oh, my gosh, I can't do this.

And you know, I actually think that that's kind of inspiring for people because they're realizing, they're connecting what their physical body can actually do to what their mind thinks that they can do.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Yeah.

ANNA DOLL

And they're getting to experience new media that they haven't necessarily ever worked with before or looking at a media that they're very familiar with, like paper, in a totally new way.

CHARLIE BENNETT

And do you feel like you've learned anything about your practice of using paper by interacting with the students in this way? There's a long pause. One's backing away from the mic. They don't want to answer this one.

FRED RASCOE

Surely you've done the projects too.

CHARLIE BENNETT

[LAUGHS]

FRED RASCOE

CATHERINE MANCI: [CHUCKLES] Yeah, you know, the same experiences students have, I have, right? There's things that I think, oh, quilling, right? We're just curling paper. Of course I can do that. CHARLIE BENNETT: Whoa, wait, wait. OK, quilling.

CATHERINE MANCI

Quilling?

CHARLIE BENNETT

Quilling paper-- explain yourself.

[LAUGHS]

CATHERINE MANCI

So it's long, skinny strips of paper that you curl then to create something. So we've made turkeys and flowers before. CHARLIE BENNETT: Oh, this is, like, sort of standing on the edge-- Yep.

CHARLIE BENNETT

--and you wrap it tightly so that it becomes more solid.

FRED RASCOE

I didn't know what that was called. CATHERINE MANCI: That's it, yeah. It's called quilling. And so you wrap these tiny strips of paper-- and so I forgot what we were talking about.

CHARLIE BENNETT

So I totally interrupted you because you were saying like quilling, you did this project, and you were learning about it and learning things that you were capable of doing and maybe not capable yet. CATHERINE MANCI: Yeah, well, it's something that you just see. And you think of course I could do that, right? People think this about art all the time. They see it, and they say, oh, I could do that. [LAUGHS]

CATHERINE MANCI

And even as someone who makes art, in my free time, I even fall into that trap. And then when you try to do it, you kind of realize the skill and the fine motor skills that are required. And so I learn a lot about myself. And I learn about stilling my mind and control of my body. And I think I've learned a lot there. And to have that practice every month has also been really helpful with an expert instructor like Anna.

ANNA DOLL

I would say for me, every time you teach something, you learn more and you learn new things on how to teach it better. And teaching every age group is a little bit different. And teaching even the same age group with different backgrounds and different experiences is different. Our Georgia Tech students don't always have that much experience with tactile art, those fine motor skills.

So learning to teach them in a different way so that they can better connect with the media, you know, it is part of what I get out of the experience.

FRED RASCOE

I can imagine even more than just the students finding out how they can move their hands, the things that they are capable of. I imagine it would also inform, like, engineering and design thinking because you think you can do something or you think it happens one way. But then it actually from the mind or the calculation or the computer design, you actually like do it in the real world, it's a different experience.

ANNA DOLL

Exactly. This is some of the practical application of some of the design work that they're doing or mathematical equations of what they're building, designing, calculating, et cetera. CHARLIE BENNETT: There's a concept we talk about on the show sometimes. And we've named it the material oomph.

And what that describes is the sort of visceral or inarticulatable feeling that you get when you are holding the material instantiation of information containers, as opposed to just viewing something on a screen or the kind of ephemeral digital thing. And I feel like this is a flip side of the material oomph because instead of that feeling of, oh, I'm holding an object, it's more, oh, I'm using my hands. But we always use our hands.

[CHUCKLES] You know, can you try and drill down, like, what's that different thing about actually manipulating paper or manipulating the world versus all the typing that we have to do in a day. And I know that's a big philosophical question. But it's what just hit me.

CATHERINE MANCI

Yeah. But I do think people kind of respond to that at that same material oomph that, you know, they walk into the class. And it's a piece of paper in front of them. And when they leave, they have this amazing object, maybe like a book. I think that material oomph makes people feel really accomplished that they've taken something that feels like an everyday object, and they've turned it into something special. CHARLIE BENNETT: A transformation that they took a part in.

ANNA DOLL

Right. And I think just like you said as well, they are-- ah, brain blank. Of course this would happen. But they're taking something that they work with every day that they don't necessarily think of in an artistic manner. And it gives them a chance to experience that when they're spending most of their day working digitally on the computer or on the phone. This is a very digitally-oriented world now, so it's kind of taking them back a few steps.

CHARLIE BENNETT

You know, ladies and gentlemen, there's a lot of extra noise on today's show. There's some drums in the distance. And the phone just rang. I don't really know what to do with it.

FRED RASCOE

I'll tell you again, Charlie. It's college radio.

CHARLIE BENNETT

So it is.

FRED RASCOE

We are here in person, touching the desk, touching the board. It's tactile. I love it.

ANNA DOLL

Touching our paper notes.

FRED RASCOE

[LAUGHS]

ANNA DOLL

CHARLIE BENNETT: Our guests today are Catherine Manci, the Public Programming and Community Engagement Specialist or Librarian for the Georgia Tech Library, and Anna Doll, the Education Curator at the Robert C. Williams Museum of Papermaking. Thank you both for being on the show. And you can lean into the mic and say thanks back if you want.

CATHERINE MANCI

[LAUGHS] Thanks for having us, Charlie and Fred.

CHARLIE BENNETT

[LAUGHS]

FRED RASCOE

[LAUGHS]

ANNA DOLL

And thank you both for having us here today.

FRED RASCOE

Yeah, thanks for showing your appreciation .

[LAUGHS]

CHARLIE BENNETT

He was leaning so far back from the mic.

FRED RASCOE

Yeah, we got to make sure that we're thanked back. File this set under TI403.M347, Volume 5.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Nice. [LOU REED, "ANDY'S CHEST"] If I could be anything in the world that flew, I would be a bat and come--

[BREEDERS, "CANNONBALL"]

FRED RASCOE

That was "Cannonball" by The Breeders.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Oh, my youth.

FRED RASCOE

Ah, the 90s. And before that, "Andy's Chest" by Lou Reed. Those were songs about wishing for material transformations.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

FRED RASCOE

CHARLIE BENNETT

Today's show is called "Tech's Tactile Thursday Talk"-- t-t-t-t-- and it's Fred's 'T's' from now on-- that's [INAUDIBLE]----

FRED RASCOE

T-t-t-t. CHARLIE BENNETT: --all about a series of workshops at the Georgia Tech Library that feature hands-on instruction and play in a variety of tactile, paper-based art activities. So for the pre-credit question, Fred, I wonder if we each have a favorite tactile craft, art, or hobby. So recently, my wife has gotten into crochet. And she's been doing it for about a year. And she makes, like, little stuffed animals and stuff.

CHARLIE BENNETT: Yeah, for a librarian, it took her a very long time to get into crochet. Right, yeah. She did embroidery before that, so she was still on brand.

CHARLIE BENNETT

All right, I'll allow it.

FRED RASCOE

But I thought, well, those little stuffed animals that you're making, they look so cute. Maybe I could try to do that. And so she gave me a little starter kit, said, watch this video. And I watched it, and I did the start. And I said, this is what I've got so far. Nope, take that out and redo it. Next night, did this little starter video, my 10 rows or whatever, it's like, hey, is this right? No, that's not right at all. Do it again. I did it a third night.

CHARLIE BENNETT

But you're keeping at it.

FRED RASCOE

Well, the third night I kept at it. And it was, like, worse than the previous two nights.

CHARLIE BENNETT

[LAUGHS]

FRED RASCOE

And I said, this is dumb. I'm not doing this anymore.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Yeah, but Fred, if you kept at it, maybe you could crochet me an octopus.

FRED RASCOE

I think that you would like that. So I have recently ventured into tactile craft and failed. But I need to try something else, I think.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Nice. Anna, you do a lot of these for your work. Do you have a personal one that really appeals to you?

ANNA DOLL

Admittedly, my favorite is ceramics. But that's what my background is in.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Uh-huh.

ANNA DOLL

Though, I will say paper is quickly rising up the ranks because it is just incredibly versatile.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Nice. Catherine, what about you? You were talking about making art. What's your favorite?

CATHERINE MANCI

Recently, I've been really into collage.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Yeah.

CATHERINE MANCI

So I'm enjoying that. And I also just love an excuse to use Mod Podge.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Mod Podge, yeah, yeah, yeah.

FRED RASCOE

Charlie, do you got one?

CHARLIE BENNETT

I do. I actually have an example of it. My favorite thing to make is these--

FRED RASCOE

Oh, he's got some little--

CHARLIE BENNETT

--these little pocket books that you can make out of a single piece of typewriter paper.

FRED RASCOE

Oh, so it's a little [INAUDIBLE]..

CHARLIE BENNETT

It's four folds and one cut, and you get a little mini book. I get the kids to make these all the time.

ANNA DOLL

And there's tons of different single-page books that you can do, a variety of folds.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Yep, another shout out to Esther K. Smith. And with that, roll those credits.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

CHARLIE BENNETT

Lost in the Stacks is a collaboration between WREK Atlanta and the Georgia Tech Library, written and produced by me, Charlie Bennett, along with Fred Rascoe and Marlee Givens.

FRED RASCOE

Legal counsel and a metal quilling tool, some polyvinyl acetate, and colorful strips of paper were provided by the Burrus Intellectual Property Law Group in Atlanta, Georgia.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Well, we know what he likes to do. Special thanks to Anna and Catherine for being on the show, to all the attendees of Tech's Tactile Thursdays, and thanks, as always, to each and every one of you for listening.

FRED RASCOE

Our web page is library.gatech.e du/lostinthestacks where you'll find our most recent episode, a link to our podcast feed, and a web form if you want to get in touch with us.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Next week's Lost in the Stacks is about slow librarianship. So we're definitely playing some sludge metal to go with our critique of capitalism.

FRED RASCOE

Oh, my. Time for our last song today. We talked a lot about paper today. And I think we should cap off all that paper talk with a paper song. CHARLIE BENNETT: That makes sense. And we'll use a live track to make it feel a bit more tactile.

CHARLIE BENNETT

Oh, I really like that.

FRED RASCOE

This is "Paper" by the Talking Heads. CHARLIE BENNETT: Of course it is. There's still some alliteration in there. CHARLIE BENNETT: Got to get that T. "Tech Tactile Talk" right here on Lost in the Stacks. Have a great weekend, everybody.

[MUSIC PLAYING]

FRED RASCOE

[TALKING HEADS, "PAPER"]

FRED RASCOE

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