Score another win in the art world for the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

It is a co-winner of the Best Online Archival Exhibit for a show about book bindings.

The following message is posted at http://www.archivesnext.com/ by: ArchivesNext in Best Archives on the Web awards

"All academic libraries have within their holdings books bound in 19th century decorative bindings. These materials are significant in their place within the fabric of American history and culture, but efforts to present these bindings in a collection that is representative of the era as a whole and to make them available virtually, via the World Wide Web have been limited.

"Publishers Bindings Online," a significant digital collection of decorative bindings, along with a comprehensive glossary and guide to the elements of these objects, will strengthen the growing interest in and create broader awareness for this "common" object called the book.

(It can be viewed at http://bindings.lib.ua.edu/.)

Decorative bindings cover many of the books that people have in their homes today, but their owners are often unaware of their cultural and historical significance. These bindings reflect not only social and cultural history, but bibliographic history as well."

While decorative book bindings might not be the first thing to leap to mind when you consider archives, the judges were wowed by "Publishers' Bindings Online, 1815-1930: The Art of Books," produced by The University of Alabama, University Libraries and the University of Wisconsin-Madison Libraries. Its combination of good design and rich content made it the winner of the Best Online Exhibition award.

The site and its content are just plain gorgeous, but the creators have made sure this resource is more than just eye candy. They've provided multiple navigation paths (including literary, historical and artistic "galleries") as well as capabilities for keyword searching or browsing by subject terms.

There are resources for teachers and researchers, including a glossary of binding terms and bibliographies for the gallery subjects. Some readers may remember that this site was the subject of a session at the 2007 SAA Annual Meeting in Chicago; the project has made a PDF of their presentation available online.

As one judge observed: "If you're into rare books and artful bindings, this site is amazing. While it's not my cup of tea personally, I know people who can and do spend hours on this site."

Go take a look at http://bindings.lib.ua.edu/ and tell Art Talk what you think?

Do you agree with the judges?

What's the best on-line art show you have ever seen?