Cannot be Digitized #5 and #6: Large and Small

Finishing my second of three years in a dual degree program, I got a little bit overwhelmed at the end of the semester and I apologize for my long absence.

Continuing the practical side of "cannot be digitized" I wanted to submit two examples of things that cannot currently be digitized, or are not currently being digitized, things that are too large and things that are too small.

We'll start with the large.  Birds of America by John James Audubon was the first book to be purchased by the University of Michigan in 1838.  It is the most valuable printed book in the Special Collections library, and one of the largest.  The double-elephant folio (hopefully "elephant" gives a sense of its size) takes two people to carry it, and two people to turn its pages.  Certainly it exists all over the world in copies large and small, but it is the age, giant size, and aura that sends people to the Special Collections library to view it, so many in fact that they recently built an "Audubon Room" in order to display it.  (On the ground floor of the Hatcher Graduate Library). With a few hours notice (though a full day is better), anyone can request to see it, and people are always shocked, awed, and pleased that they have the right to do so.  They feel inspired in its presence, gather around, point, whisper, stand with gaping mouths, and arrange groups to come in just to stand in its presence.  Smaller copies have been digitized, and you can google any print and come up with a digital copy right now.  However, the aura that it has in such a massive size, even if a scanner that large is created, cannot be captured.

Conversely, Google is also not digitizing small items.  Though I was unable to confirm the exact number of centimeters,  small by Google standards includes a large number of books.  Anything about the height of my hand, a fairly common size, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, is too small, and is currently skipped.  The example I'd like to discuss also has other unique characteristics that cannot be rendered on a screen.  Pat the Bunny the 1968 book by Dorothy Kunhardt is a book that was specifically created with textures such as a soft bunny and scratchy whiskers.  The tactile experience of interacting with this book has is what makes in an iconic book that stands out in the memories of adults 40 years later, and continues to make it a favorite among children today.  However, if you try to digitize it, currently it would be rejected from the library digitization project for its small size, but also it ends up looking like this:

The only way to tell that this is fuzzy at all is the slight indication near the bunny's tail that some of the 3D fuzz is overhanging the black line.  This particular book has no reason to exist on a screen.