History of libraries
Encyclopedia
The history of the library
began with the first effort to organize a collection of document
s (recorded knowledge). It goes back to at least around 1200 BC.. Using a retronym
is is often stated that libraries were born when people began to organize information and provide access to that information. The history of the library should not be confused with the history of library science
which is an academic discipline
of much more recent origin (the 1800s). Also it should not be confused with library history
which is the academic discipline
devoted to the study of the history of libraries (a subfield of library science
).
in Syria
excavations have revealed a palace library, temple library, and two private libraries which date back to around 1200 BC, containing diplomatic texts as well as poetry and other literary forms. In the 7th century, King Ashurbanipal
of Assyria
assembled what is considered the first systematically collected library
at Nineveh
; previous collections functioned more as passive archives. The legendary Library of Alexandria
is perhaps the best known example of an early library, flourishing in the 3rd century BC and possibly inspired by Demetrius Phalereus
.
is believed to have been the first to establish a library classification
system and the first book notation system. At this time the library catalog
was written on scrolls of fine silk and stored in silk bags.
, it is believed that personal collections of books were brought over to the continent by French settlers in the 16th century. The oldest nonpersonal library on the North American continent was founded at The Jesuit College in Quebec City
in 1635.
, whose library at Monticello
consisted of thousands of books, devised a classification system inspired by the Baconian method
, which grouped books more or less by subject rather than alphabetically, as it was previously done. Jefferson's collection became the nucleus of the first national collection of the United States when it was transferred to Congress after a fire destroyed the Congressional Library during the War of 1812
. The Jefferson collection was the start of what we now know as the Library of Congress
.
The first textbook on library science was published 1808 by Martin Schrettinger
, followed by books of Johann Georg Seizinger and others.
Later, the term was used in the title of S. R. Ranganathan's
The Five Laws of Library Science, published in 1931, and in the title of Lee Pierce Butler's 1933 book, An introduction to library science (University of Chicago Press).
Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan (August 9, 1892, Sirkali, Tamil Nadu – September 27, 1972, Bangalore) was a mathematician
and librarian
from India
. His most notable contributions to the field were his five laws of library science and the development of the first major analytico-synthetic classification system, the colon classification. He is considered to be the father of library science
, documentation, and information science in India and is widely known throughout the rest of the world for his fundamental thinking in the field.
Butler's new approach advocated research using quantitative methods
and ideas in the social sciences
with the aim of using librarianship to address society's information needs. This research agenda went against the more procedure-based approach of "library economy," which was mostly confined to practical problems in the administration of libraries. While Ranganathan's approach was philosophical it was tied more to the day-to-day business of running a library. A reworking of Raganathan's laws was published in 1995 which removes the constant references to books. Michael Gorman's
Our Enduring Values: Librarianship in the 21st Century, features his 8 principles necessary by library professionals and incorporate knowledge and information in all their forms, allowing for digital information to be considered.
In more recent years, with the growth of digital technology, the field has been greatly influenced by information science concepts. Although a basic understanding is critical to both library research and practical work, the area of information science has remained largely distinct both in training and in research interests.
see also
Library science
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
began with the first effort to organize a collection of document
Document
The term document has multiple meanings in ordinary language and in scholarship. WordNet 3.1. lists four meanings :* document, written document, papers...
s (recorded knowledge). It goes back to at least around 1200 BC.. Using a retronym
Retronym
A retronym is a type of neologism that provides a new name for an object or concept to differentiate the original form or version of it from a more recent form or version. The original name is most often augmented with an adjective to account for later developments of the object or concept itself...
is is often stated that libraries were born when people began to organize information and provide access to that information. The history of the library should not be confused with the history of library science
Library science
Library science is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and other areas to libraries; the collection, organization, preservation, and dissemination of information resources; and the...
which is an academic discipline
Academic discipline
An academic discipline, or field of study, is a branch of knowledge that is taught and researched at the college or university level. Disciplines are defined , and recognized by the academic journals in which research is published, and the learned societies and academic departments or faculties to...
of much more recent origin (the 1800s). Also it should not be confused with library history
Library history
Library history is subdiscipline within library science and library and information science focuing on the history of libraries and their role in societies and cultures. There is today a tendency to broadening the field and to speak of information history...
which is the academic discipline
Academic discipline
An academic discipline, or field of study, is a branch of knowledge that is taught and researched at the college or university level. Disciplines are defined , and recognized by the academic journals in which research is published, and the learned societies and academic departments or faculties to...
devoted to the study of the history of libraries (a subfield of library science
Library science
Library science is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and other areas to libraries; the collection, organization, preservation, and dissemination of information resources; and the...
).
Early history
At UgaritUgarit
Ugarit was an ancient port city in the eastern Mediterranean at the Ras Shamra headland near Latakia, Syria. It is located near Minet el-Beida in northern Syria. It is some seven miles north of Laodicea ad Mare and approximately fifty miles east of Cyprus...
in Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
excavations have revealed a palace library, temple library, and two private libraries which date back to around 1200 BC, containing diplomatic texts as well as poetry and other literary forms. In the 7th century, King Ashurbanipal
Ashurbanipal
Ashurbanipal |Ashur]] is creator of an heir"; 685 BC – c. 627 BC), also spelled Assurbanipal or Ashshurbanipal, was an Assyrian king, the son of Esarhaddon and the last great king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire...
of Assyria
Assyria
Assyria was a Semitic Akkadian kingdom, extant as a nation state from the mid–23rd century BC to 608 BC centred on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia , that came to rule regional empires a number of times through history. It was named for its original capital, the ancient city of Assur...
assembled what is considered the first systematically collected library
Library
In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...
at Nineveh
Nineveh
Nineveh was an ancient Assyrian city on the eastern bank of the Tigris River, and capital of the Neo Assyrian Empire. Its ruins are across the river from the modern-day major city of Mosul, in the Ninawa Governorate of Iraq....
; previous collections functioned more as passive archives. The legendary Library of Alexandria
Library of Alexandria
The Royal Library of Alexandria, or Ancient Library of Alexandria, in Alexandria, Egypt, was the largest and most significant great library of the ancient world. It flourished under the patronage of the Ptolemaic dynasty and functioned as a major center of scholarship from its construction in the...
is perhaps the best known example of an early library, flourishing in the 3rd century BC and possibly inspired by Demetrius Phalereus
Demetrius Phalereus
Demetrius of Phalerum was an Athenian orator originally from Phalerum, a student of Theophrastus and one of the first Peripatetics...
.
Ancient information retrieval
One of the curators of the imperial library in the Han DynastyHan Dynasty
The Han Dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin Dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms . It was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han. It was briefly interrupted by the Xin Dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang...
is believed to have been the first to establish a library classification
Library classification
A library classification is a system of coding and organizing documents or library materials according to their subject and allocating a call number to that information resource...
system and the first book notation system. At this time the library catalog
Library catalog
A library catalog is a register of all bibliographic items found in a library or group of libraries, such as a network of libraries at several locations...
was written on scrolls of fine silk and stored in silk bags.
17th century
In North AmericaNorth America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, it is believed that personal collections of books were brought over to the continent by French settlers in the 16th century. The oldest nonpersonal library on the North American continent was founded at The Jesuit College in Quebec City
Quebec City
Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...
in 1635.
19th century
Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
, whose library at Monticello
Monticello
Monticello is a National Historic Landmark just outside Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was the estate of Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence, third President of the United States, and founder of the University of Virginia; it is...
consisted of thousands of books, devised a classification system inspired by the Baconian method
Baconian method
The Baconian method is the investigative method developed by Sir Francis Bacon. The method was put forward in Bacon's book Novum Organum , or 'New Method', and was supposed to replace the methods put forward in Aristotle's Organon...
, which grouped books more or less by subject rather than alphabetically, as it was previously done. Jefferson's collection became the nucleus of the first national collection of the United States when it was transferred to Congress after a fire destroyed the Congressional Library during the War of 1812
War of 1812
The War of 1812 was a military conflict fought between the forces of the United States of America and those of the British Empire. The Americans declared war in 1812 for several reasons, including trade restrictions because of Britain's ongoing war with France, impressment of American merchant...
. The Jefferson collection was the start of what we now know as the Library of Congress
Library of Congress
The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
.
The first textbook on library science was published 1808 by Martin Schrettinger
Martin Schrettinger
Martin Wilibald Schrettinger was a German priest and librarian.-Life and Career:...
, followed by books of Johann Georg Seizinger and others.
20th century
In the English speaking world the term "library science" seems to have been used for the first time in a book in 1916 in the "Panjab Library Primer" written by Asa Don Dickinson and published by the University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan. This university was the first in Asia to begin teaching 'library science'. The "Panjab Library Primer" was the first textbook on library science published in English anywhere in the world. The first textbook in the United States was the "Manual of Library Economy" which was published in 1929.Later, the term was used in the title of S. R. Ranganathan's
S. R. Ranganathan
Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan was a mathematician and librarian from India. His most notable contributions to the field were his five laws of library science and the development of the first major analytico-synthetic classification system, the colon classification...
The Five Laws of Library Science, published in 1931, and in the title of Lee Pierce Butler's 1933 book, An introduction to library science (University of Chicago Press).
Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan (August 9, 1892, Sirkali, Tamil Nadu – September 27, 1972, Bangalore) was a mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
and librarian
Librarian
A librarian is an information professional trained in library and information science, which is the organization and management of information services or materials for those with information needs...
from India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. His most notable contributions to the field were his five laws of library science and the development of the first major analytico-synthetic classification system, the colon classification. He is considered to be the father of library science
Library science
Library science is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and other areas to libraries; the collection, organization, preservation, and dissemination of information resources; and the...
, documentation, and information science in India and is widely known throughout the rest of the world for his fundamental thinking in the field.
Butler's new approach advocated research using quantitative methods
Quantitative research
In the social sciences, quantitative research refers to the systematic empirical investigation of social phenomena via statistical, mathematical or computational techniques. The objective of quantitative research is to develop and employ mathematical models, theories and/or hypotheses pertaining to...
and ideas in the social sciences
Social sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
with the aim of using librarianship to address society's information needs. This research agenda went against the more procedure-based approach of "library economy," which was mostly confined to practical problems in the administration of libraries. While Ranganathan's approach was philosophical it was tied more to the day-to-day business of running a library. A reworking of Raganathan's laws was published in 1995 which removes the constant references to books. Michael Gorman's
Michael Gorman (librarian)
Michael Gorman is a British-born librarian, library scholar and editor/writer on library issues noted for his traditional views. During his tenure as president of the American Library Association , he was vocal in his opinions on a range of subjects, notably technology and education...
Our Enduring Values: Librarianship in the 21st Century, features his 8 principles necessary by library professionals and incorporate knowledge and information in all their forms, allowing for digital information to be considered.
In more recent years, with the growth of digital technology, the field has been greatly influenced by information science concepts. Although a basic understanding is critical to both library research and practical work, the area of information science has remained largely distinct both in training and in research interests.
See also
- Jefferson's Library - Exhibition including a sample page from "Catalog of Library of Thomas Jefferson"
- Chronology of information science and technology - From the 17th to the 20th century
- Chronology of chemical information science
- Information science pioneers - Biographies of pioneers and famous information scientists
- The Historiography of Canadian Library History
see also
Library science
Library science
Library science is an interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary field that applies the practices, perspectives, and tools of management, information technology, education, and other areas to libraries; the collection, organization, preservation, and dissemination of information resources; and the...