If you have a question that is not answered here then please get in touch and ask!
Who made this?
The Minna Tarkka Library Project has been initiated and led by Sophea Lerner and is an ongoing project of Phonebox Productions. A long list of people have shown up and helped move, organise, catalogue and stamp the books including: Kalle Kuisma, Emmi Vainio, Martina Šerešová, Tommi Vasko, Miia Laine, Miyuki Jokiranta, Bec Gallo…and many more to be added to this list. M-cult has supported the project by providing space for events and storage at the Minna Tarkka Residency.
How did this come about?
Before Minna passed away she had conversations with colleagues about collectively gathering their professional media art libraries somewhere that the next generations of researchers could benefit from them. Unfortunately this was not realised before she passed away. The whole library was on the verge of being thrown out in a final house clearance after her death. The Minna Tarkka Library Project emerged from the impulse to gather up a lifetime of books and catalogue them for sharing.
How do I export selections from the catalog, or the whole catalog?
You can select up to 100 items at a time from the online catalog then use the following button to export them in the format of choice – please choose CSV – rename the files with your name and attach them to your book request:
The boxes are roughly sorted thematically and catalogued roughly by physical boxes. If you like you can browse items by the physical boxes they are stored in under Locations > Storage. These locations will be checked during the talkoo as there may be some errors in the quick bulk cataloguing process.
Do I have to publically share my name and which books I have in the catalogue?
Not at all, You have the option to do so, this is relevant for organisational libraries and some individuals with semi-public home libraries. Others may wish to their hosting location to be anonimised. You can also choose whether you are able to field loan requests for the books you host either directly or mediated through the project.
Will there be other ways to browse the catalogue?
In the future we will build other front end interfaces and other functionality into the library so that book data can be browsed in various ways and maintainace and updating tasks and possible ongoing book-sharing can work more smoothly.
Is it just books?
No, we also have a large collection of media arts ephemera and journals which we have not been able to catalog. Please let us know if you would like to spend time with or offer space to this unique resource. We are also cataloguing Minna’s music collection and may consider adding it to the library at some point.