Strips of Knowledge draws experts

karen herland

Tucked into a corner of the Webster Library, Olivier Charbonneau’s office features hefty copies of Auditing and Principles of Accounting stacked beside graphic novels and brightly coloured comic book posters on the walls.

The jumble captures the range of the reference librarian’s responsibilities since he arrived at Concordia in 2003.

As reference librarian for the John Molson School of Business, Charbonneau is required to stay on top of the latest materials in accounting, decision sciences and management information systems. However, graphic novels are his research interest and, increasingly, his passion.

Listening to him talk about distinctions between comic books, graphic novels, bandes dessinées, narrative art, graphica, comix (underground comics) and manga (Japanese comics) can be dizzying, but it’s impossible not to get caught up in his enthusiasm.

“There is no real definition of comics,” Charbonneau concedes. Some people will argue that at least two images are necessary, excluding the work of single panel artists like Gary Larsen of The Far Side fame. Others require at least 25 pages, “but that is the definition of a book, so it’s kind of a self-serving definition for librarians.”

To discuss this and other conundrums, Charbonneau has organized the Strips of Knowledge Colloquium from April 5 to 7. The conference will bring together experts from Canada, France, Spain, Belgium and the U.S.

The event will be held at the Grande Bibliothèque under the auspices of the Association pour l’avancement des sciences et des techniques de la documentation (ASTED, the major French-language professional association of Canadian librarians) and the Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival.

Charbonneau’s involvement with Blue Met goes back several years, when he helped judge a contest that invited teens to produce short comic strips about bullying. He brought those contacts together with fellow ASTED members after last year’s Blue Metropolis event, and the result is Strips of Knowledge.

“I can’t wait to get all these people in a room together, and get them talking,” Charbonneau said in a recent interview.

The event will feature both theoretical and practical expertise. The April 6 panels will explore themes like using comics as classroom tools, the role of the artist and censorship. Many of the speakers are illustrators or producers.

The day ends with a vernissage of an exhibit by European artist François Schuiten and comic expert Benoît Peeters.

The following day will focus on issues of concern to librarians, like cataloguing and archiving. Although Charbonneau is not slated to speak, his own experience developing a collection of 1,000 English-language comics in time for the opening of the Grande Bibliothèque last April could easily feed the discussions.

“They wanted me to collect the Oscars of the bandes dessinées,” he said of his project to identify the best in English graphic novel.

He hopes that the event will open the door for future projects. “It would be great to pool resources to develop a living bibliography of graphic novels as a shared web file.” A tool like that would have helped him develop the Grande Bibliothèque’s collection, Charbonneau said.

Strips of Knowledge includes a series of comic-themed films, some by conference speakers, at the Cinémathèque québécoise.

Once the conference is over, Charbonneau can devote time to another project he’s involved in. The Arts on Paper Society (www.sap-aps.org) is a project he dreamed up with a couple of like-minded people in 2004.

The St. Denis St. space features the work of illustrators and eventually, he hopes, graphic artists. The society provides an opportunity for artists who work on paper, since many galleries are disinterested in the lower price point of their works. The space also features regular exhibits.

For more information about Strips of Knowledge, click here.