October 31, 2024

For Librarians

Day-Old Art brings visual literacy, historical inquiry, and color into one conversation. The work grows from the KBI model: know, believe, imagine. KBI is the method I have used to determine color decisions since day one.

Library Information Studies, with an academic culture fully enmeshed with the history of the codex and print material, has largely ignored the importance of engaging with visual information.

Not to belabor the point, or to diminish the genuine contributions of LIS, it is often said in private conversation that Information Studies is primarily constructed around “the fetish of the book.” The book is a totem. This fascination with printed material needs amending in the digital age which is inundated with visual imagery.

Hale’s research in visual literacy led to a theory of visual cognition called KBI, Knowledge, Belief, Imagination, that adds a significant plank to the domain of library science.

Melvin Hale’s research asks how images can deepen cognitive engagement and make visual history more present for viewers.