Scrapbookers may play with boundaries through scrapbooking. Nippert-Eng (2005:304) argues that two conditions must be met in order for boundary play to occur: First, players must possess a shared, normative expectation for where one draws the line between two semiotically … Continue reading
Scrapbookers lump together items they consider scrapworthy and split them from the rest which they consider to be not scrapworthy (i.e., trashworthy or forgettable). Scrapworthiness is shaped by how scrapbookers classify their lives within their scrapbooks. For example, a scrapbooker … Continue reading
Over the past few weeks, I’ve covered some of the ways in which my respondents organize their scrapbooks. In case you missed any of the posts, here they are: I Scrapbook Chronologically. How is Time Measured? The First Year Child-Prompted … Continue reading
Scrapbookers create scrapbooks of specific events but also “general family scrapbooking” which includes “keeping up with vacations, birthdays, regular pictures.” A more out of the ordinary scrapbook subject is about a person’s occupation. One industry worker has a customer who … Continue reading
One thematic trend that was somewhat surprising to me when I encountered it was education-themed scrapbooks. I think it surprised me because this style of scrapbooking is not heavily promoted by the industry aside from the production of school-themed product. … Continue reading
A common mantra among scrapbookers that persist with the hobby is that event-based scrapbooking grows tiresome, hence the rise of everyday scrapbooking. In a chronological event-based scrapbook, the album may move from event to event. For example, the album may … Continue reading
Albums are most often organized chronologically because they tell a coherent story this way. First this happened and then that happened. The story makes more sense when it is based in time. Chronological organization is easy to think. The decision … Continue reading
There is a thought community within the scrapbooking community that emphasizes themes and inspiration rather than time as the basis of organization. Big Picture Scrapbooking is an online education program (Julian and Rehn 2009) devoted to “giving permission” to people … Continue reading
As I’ve mentioned previously, just because an album may be organized chronologically does not mean it was scrapbooked chronologically. It is far more common for a person to scrapbook whatever they want and then organize the pages chronologically for the … Continue reading
Last week, I talked about scrapbooking first years. First years are intriguing because the moment when a first year begins varies. For example, albums about a child’s first year typically begin either with a sonogram photograph or photographs when the … Continue reading
Stephanie Medley-Rath is a sociologist and scrapbooker who studies scrapbooking and memory keeping. Scrapworthy Lives is a blog focused on her sociological analysis of scrapbooking, with a sprinkling of posts about Stephanie's own scrapbooking projects.
