Scrapbookers determine what is scrapworthy by sifting through the photographs they have taken or been given of moments from their life. Photographs are not taken continuously but are taken selectively. Scrapbookers then have to label a moment as scrapworthy in … Continue reading
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
Last week, we explored what it means to scrapbook chronologically. But, what do we mean by chronological? What is the unit of time? How is time measured? While people were making day in the life layouts, when I conducted my … Continue reading
Over the next few weeks, I will discuss my results regarding how scrapbooks are actually organized. Think about the following phrase for a moment: I scrapbook chronologically. What does this phrase mean? From my non-dissertation observations, there seems to be … Continue reading
Each Wednesday, I usually write a post from my dissertation. By discussing atypical and typical scrapbook pages, what becomes clear is that most respondents scrapbook in typical ways—at least for them. They have difficulty identifying atypical pages or explaining why a … Continue reading
Each Wednesday, I usually write a post from my dissertation. Though scrapbooks are rarely identical and there is tremendous variety in terms of scrapbooking styles, scrapbookers do common things on their scrapbook pages. Most scrapbookers include journaling for instance, but the … Continue reading
Each Wednesday, I usually write a post from my dissertation. Though scrapbookers are influenced by mainstream American culture in what they choose to scrapbook, they do not often record popular culture in their scrapbooks. A few scrapbookers regularly include popular culture … Continue reading
Each Wednesday, I usually write a post from my dissertation. Different scrapbookers showed me pages that are of common events such as holidays or life transitions. Seeing how different scrapbookers capture these moments in their scrapbooks illustrates how standardized scrapbooks can … Continue reading
Each Wednesday, I usually write a post from my dissertation. Respondents, who are better able to recognize atypical things in their scrapbooking, had been scrapbooking for a greater length of time. For them, atypical things are things they primarily did as … 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.
