Lo scaffale narrativo e transmediale: ripensare le collezioni e le esperienze di lettura in biblioteca

The paper explores some central issues within the Transmedia Library Shelf Experience project, promoted by the Department of Historical Studies of the University of Turin and aimed at the prototyping of a new type of library shelf. After a presentation of the reference scenarios and the conceptual premises of the project, the focus shifts to the ways in which the subject of the bibliographic representation of reality is addressed. The integration of narrative and transmedia elements within these shelves serves to enhance the orientation of phenomena within a transdisciplinary, multidimensional and less self-referential approach. This entails the need both to adopt new models of conceptual and spatial organisation of the bibliographic offer and to broaden the concept of collection itself, also contemplating content located outside the physical and virtual boundaries of libraries. Consequently, collection development and management practices should be rethought, from the planning and selection phase to the mediation phase. The ‘narrative’ mode of communication, supported by a series of analogue and digital interfaces, is intended to foster browsing, facilitating orientation, research and at the same time the discovery of information. The narrative and transmedia shelves are thus intended not only to meet the need for information and in-depth study of complex contemporary phenomena, but also to enhance the role of libraries as places of experience, exploratory research, interactivity and emotional involvement.