Libraries are places of personal fascination for me. The solitude and wealth of information found there is awe-inspiring. This project stemmed from my compulsion to constantly be looking for things and my affinity for libraries.

   Tracing is an intimate project consisting of a CD-ROM that is interactive both in its virtual computer based aspect, and within the actual F.W. Olin Mills Library.

   The project is the result of a systematic filtering of books in the libraries collection for elements users have left there. Common items have all been removed (scraps of paper, paper clips, etc.) and the more intriguing items have been thoroughly documented, catalogued, and returned to their original locations. These items were then organized into their own seemingly inherent categories that can be perused by collection. The CD-ROM is a navigable computer program that introduces you to the library project and allows one to examine the different collections of relics. A few examples of each collection is presented along with call number listings of where to find the full range of items in that specific collection. With these call numbers, participants can go to the library and examine the collections in their entirety.

   Tracing inspires one to think about the history of the library in light of these fossilized traces of its past users. Stories of the personal lives of former students and faculty are glimpsed through these artifacts. With Tracing I strive to inspire participants to personally explore this archeological dig of a small corner of our contemporary society.