The Bibliomatrix maps the interactions that have shaped the production of various historical materials over time.
The Bibliomatrix is composed of interlinked Bibliograms. The component Bibliograms are each generated in relation to a particular producer of sources, commentary or synthesised accounts, whether an individual or a collective. They offer a web-like view of the materials generated by the particular producer and of relations between producers. In this way Bibliograms track connections amongst producers of historical materials, iterations of materials and commentary on the producers and the materials and present them in a visual form.
The Bibliogram are designed to assist users in getting to grips with the conditions of production and of the reshaping over time of historical materials. In each case, a condensed info-bite introduces the producer or materials. The various components of the Bibliograms have live links to relevant materials in the digital archive.
To view a Bibliogram, click an icon below:
Eventually, the component Bibliograms on this site will be linked together as components of a larger, encompassing Bibliomatrix. The software to enable this to take the form of a dynamic matrix is currently in development. The significance of a dynamic matrix – one that responds to a user’s cursor rather than remaining fixed – is that it will allow users to determine their own focal point. The Bibliomatrix is an ongoing, endlessly expansive endeavour.
The Bibliomatrix project was conceived by Henry Fagan and Carolyn Hamilton in 2019. Fagan developed the Bibliogram templates and the initial series of Bibliograms using research undertaken for his MA thesis. The design for the static pages of the Bibliomatrix was created by Deon Schreiber. Sizakele Gumede is responsible for the Bibliogram text in isiZulu.