The Story of Libraries: From the Invention of Writing to the Computer Age - Hardcover

Lerner, Frederick Andrew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0826411142 ISBN 13: 9780826411143

Publisher: Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd., 1998

Synopsis

This text describes the role that libraries played in ancient Egypt, Han-dynasty China, the ancient Western Clasical world, the Baghdad of Harun-al-Rashid, and medieval and Renaissance Europe. It continues with the libraries of colonial America, the Library of Congress, university libraries, and today's large public library systems. With the invention of the printing press and the spread of literacy, libraries served the common reader, as well as the priestly and princely elites against which Catholic and Protestant reformers rebelled. In the 20th century, libraries have supported both democratic institutions and have also been tools of Nazi and Soviet totalitarianism. Today, at the dawn of the computer and telecommunication age, it is evident that libraries of the future will play a vital role in the presevation of crumbling books and documents, and in forming new ways of preserving increasingly digitized and technological forms of culture. The text suggests that the role of librarians and libraries in the information age promises to be more important than ever.

About this title

Review

'We now have a book with ideas to impress general readers from the outside and stretch library-history insiders, especially those of us who are lucky enough to be teaching library history courses, for which this should now be the text of choice.' --Librari

The Story of Libraries is a wonderful introduction to the history of these institutions --Information Today, 1st July 2010

About the Author

Fred Lerner holds degrees in history and library science from Columbia University, where he received his doctorate. He has also written widely on contemporary science fiction and produces a bibliographical database indexing literature on posttraumatic stress disorder. He lives in Vermont with his wife Sheryl, a retired teacher.

Edition details

• Publisher: Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd.
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0826411142
• ISBN 13: 9780826411143
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 200