DSDN171 Of the relevance of a library in a design school.

Universities around the world have libraries, they offer a well organized sources of information through texts and books. But why would a school of design, an art based on visual appearance, innovation and the creation physical objects, need such a vast quantity of texts?

First, it is common sense that for an idea to be original and thus innovative, it must not have been thought of before and already put to use, hence the necessity of having a database in which one could search and see if an idea is truly unique.

Secondly, it is very clear that throughout the history of art and design, the styles of the past have had an influence on the present; as an example, it appears quite clearly that neoclassicism is based on the art and architecture of antiquity, and to do so, artists and designers would count on prints and texts relating of the discovery of these ancient pieces of art and architecture. So it appears that keeping a trace of what has been done to serve as inspiration for the present is a necessity.

Finally, not only does the past have an influence on current and future design, but so do the peers of contemporary designers, thus it is essential that a catalog of their works be created so as to have a means of reference and inspiration.

All this mass of information would be extremely tedious to search through, thus the necessity of a organized database arises. In conclusion, a library is needed, so one can search through and isolate relevant pieces of information without getting lost in a sea of irrelevant data.