Representing Library Users and Professionals on Websites: A Visual Grammar Approach for Library Image-Makers and Library Educators

摘要

Library images are becoming more visible due to the proliferation of technology, particularly digital cameras and library websites. The current concerns surrounding the use of images on library websites center primarily upon post-image construction issues such as accessibility and usability. There is currently no attention paid to the constructed realities of the visual messages articulated through library web-images operating within culture-specific visual spaces. The purpose of this article is to extend the discussion on nonverbal library communication to the construction of web-images, which operate within visual culture. Furthermore, the goal of this article is to aid website image-makers and library educators by illuminating the constructed realities of visuality within Western visual communication, and by introducing a visual grammar approach, based on visual grammar theory, for constructing library website images that represent users, professionals, and their relationships.