Reading practices in the public library space

The context of Reading(&)Machine project

Abstract

This article proposes some considerations regarding the contexts of Reading(&)Machine project, developed in collaboration between SmartData@Polito and VR@Polito centers of the Polytechnic of Turin, Department of Historical Studies of the University of Turin, and Turin Civic Libraries. Reading(&)Machine is based on the processing of information content of data produced by the libraries, and of other types of data, coming from the social reading platform aNobii and generated directly by users, used to promote and enrich the reading experience, in the specificity of the symbolic and informative ecosystem of the public library; the recommendations produced will be made available in an immersive Virtual Reality environment. The article examines two particular aspects of these contexts. The first refers to the relationship between the digital space of the project and the configuration of the physical space of the library, within which the prototype will be placed. The second specifically concerns the methods and phases of the choice of reading, in which suggestions produced by the machines and signs communicated by the library space are integrated.