Abstract
This paper considers the role of the textile materials library as an effective research tool through its provision of tactile, visual samples, technical data and project application information. The abundance of new materials and the increasing complexity of materials and processes that are used by designers requires a comprehensive rethink of the traditional ‘samples in a box’ approach. The physical handling of fabrics samples allows for a haptic learning tool to isolate and combine the senses in information gathering. Written data in the form of books, papers, and specification sheets can communicate information about the composition, origin, designer/manufacturer, production process, visual reference and applications very effectively. The research described in the paper includes consultation with industry and academia, along with a review of four contemporary textile material libraries to explore the formats that future textile libraries may best take. In considering a future textile library, the authors also examine answers to the question: as the number of textiles available continues to expand, how can physical material, image and text-based library techniques best be combined with the web and digital information to make it possible for colleges, public institutions and companies to keep a textile library resource up to date?
Keywords
Textile design; materials library; design research; haptics; multimodal knowledge
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2011.106
Citation
O’Mahony, M.,and Barker, T.(2011) The Role of the Textile Materials Library: Providing Access to Multimodal Knowledge in Design Research, in Niedderer, K., Mey, K., Roworth-Stokes, S. (eds.), EKSIG 2011: Skin Deep - Experiential Knowledge & Multi-sensory Communication, 23–24 June 2011, Farnham, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2011.106
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
The Role of the Textile Materials Library: Providing Access to Multimodal Knowledge in Design Research
This paper considers the role of the textile materials library as an effective research tool through its provision of tactile, visual samples, technical data and project application information. The abundance of new materials and the increasing complexity of materials and processes that are used by designers requires a comprehensive rethink of the traditional ‘samples in a box’ approach. The physical handling of fabrics samples allows for a haptic learning tool to isolate and combine the senses in information gathering. Written data in the form of books, papers, and specification sheets can communicate information about the composition, origin, designer/manufacturer, production process, visual reference and applications very effectively. The research described in the paper includes consultation with industry and academia, along with a review of four contemporary textile material libraries to explore the formats that future textile libraries may best take. In considering a future textile library, the authors also examine answers to the question: as the number of textiles available continues to expand, how can physical material, image and text-based library techniques best be combined with the web and digital information to make it possible for colleges, public institutions and companies to keep a textile library resource up to date?