Alvionne Karpinski is a PhD candidate at UBC’s School of Information studying the socio-cultural landscape of the contemporary trade in medieval manuscript fragments and broken books. She conducts network analysis of relationships, ethical norms, and commercial activities within the rare book trade, with the goal of producing broad, systematic, and empirical data on the market for manuscript parts.

Her academic background is in the study of the material medieval manuscript, with a specific focus on mise-en-page and the relationship between page design and anticipated use of medieval books.

Alongside her research, Alvionne Karpinski is a cultural heritage consultant and private librarian working with rare book dealers and collectors, both individual and institutional, in the areas of collection management, cataloguing, sales and acquisitions, and digital repository development.

Research Interests:

– Tangible Cultural Heritage, Cultural Heritage Trade, Rare Book Trade, History of Collecting, Ethics of Collecting

– Medieval Manuscripts, Fragmentology, History of the Book

– Cultural Heritage Crime, Art Crime, Criminological Theory, OSINT (Open Source Intelligence) Research, Linked Data, Digital Humanities