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A SCRAPBOOK OF STUFF I'M READING / LISTENING TO / LOOKING AT.

Apr 28, 2011

» The social life of marginalia - Bobulate

Great article by Liz on one of my favorite subjects. (I mean, what is this, other than marginalia out of control…) This bit:

When a consumer encounters marginalia in a used book, it has the potential to change one’s perception of a book’s value. Cathy Marshall, a Microsoft researcher, found that university students evaluated textbooks before purchasing so that they can bring home the book with the smartest notes.

Reminded me of Andrei Codrescu on the Kindle:

I don’t know about you, but I always hated underlined passages in used books. They derail my private enjoyment….When somebody offers perception of what’s important, something moronic, usually…And this thing on my Kindle…something called view popular highlights, which will tell you how many morons have underlined before so that not only you do not own the new book you paid for, the entire experience of reading is shattered by the presence of a mob that agitates inside your text like strangers in a train station.

Of course, if the people making the marks mean something to you, reading a marked-up book can be a wonderful experience.