How do you cook a hard cheese to dry it out without melting it in a home kitchen? Which cheese is suited to this purpose? Is there a way to achieve a crunchy texture with a cheese by cooking it, or a certain technique to drying it out? 
I don't see how you can make cheese crispy without first melting.  You can, however, easily make a cheese tuile from a hard cheese, like parmesan.  The cheese is grated, then baked, where it melts.  It is removed from the oven and crisps as it cools. Here is an example with a description of the process, and a picture of the result.  There are plenty of others, just google "cheese tuile." 