Archival documentation plays an enormous role in the way in which we understand media and create it. In accordance with Scannell (2011);
The historical record is as ontologically inseparable from its recording instruments as the dancer is from the dance. (p.45)

We can understand that the media we produce is in direct response to the media which has come before it and there lies the importance of the Library to RMIT as an institution.

Whether you be like me and studying Communication or Bio-Medicine the library will undoubtedly emerge as an important resource of knowledge, fighting through mountains of resources midst a group assignment burn out nightmare or struggling to scrape together the correct amount of resources to not fail your 40% essay.

However, some courses are much more involved with the physical Library and books, online databases assist in projecting knowledge past the realms of the construction site of Bowen, this raises an issue explored in this week’s nostalgic reading on Archives – does the actual process of research lessen with the growing popularity and convenience of  online archives? Having your nose scurrying through hurried pages in the hope of speed reading your book before class vs skimming through an online copy with the flick of your fingers and notating it in One Note, realistically it comes down to like much in Media studies – personal preference.

For the sake of this studio, I believe I’ll embrace a fluent combination of both Old research and New research techniques – whether it be staying back on a Wednesday after class to read up on the traditions of Claymation or Knitting through to looking through peer-reviewed online hosted academic texts exploring the cultural significance of Wallace and Gromit for an emerging film form.