Ancient Libraries


Book Description

The circulation of books was the motor of classical civilization. However, books were both expensive and rare, and so libraries - private and public, royal and civic - played key roles in articulating intellectual life. This collection, written by an international team of scholars, presents a fundamental reassessment of how ancient libraries came into being, how they were organized and how they were used. Drawing on papyrology and archaeology, and on accounts written by those who read and wrote in them, it presents new research on reading cultures, on book collecting and on the origins of monumental library buildings. Many of the traditional stories told about ancient libraries are challenged. Few were really enormous, none were designed as research centres, and occasional conflagrations do not explain the loss of most ancient texts. But the central place of libraries in Greco-Roman culture emerges more clearly than ever.




Inside Roman Libraries


Book Description

Inside Roman Libraries: Book Collections and Their Management in Antiquity




Lost Libraries


Book Description

This pioneering volume of essays explores the destruction of great libraries since ancient times and examines the intellectual, political and cultural consequences of loss. Fourteen original contributions, introduced by a major re-evaluative history of lost libraries, offer the first ever comparative discussion of the greatest catastrophes in book history from Mesopotamia and Alexandria to the dispersal of monastic and monarchical book collections, the Nazi destruction of Jewish libraries, and the recent horrifying pillage and burning of books in Tibet, Bosnia and Iraq.




Students Lead the Library


Book Description

Part 6. Students as library designers -- Just ask them! : designing services and spaces on the foundation of student feedback / Emily Daly, Joyce Chapman, and Thomas Crichlow -- Pizza for your thoughts : building a vibrant dialogue with students through informal focus groups / Kenneth J. Burhanna




Library Collection Development for Professional Programs: Trends and Best Practices


Book Description

Collection development, the process used by librarians to choose items for a particular library or section of a library, can be time-consuming and difficult due to the many factors that must be taken into consideration. Library Collection Development for Professional Programs: Trends and Best Practices addresses the challenging task of collection development in modern academic libraries, which is largely learned on the job. This publication contains practical advice and innovative strategies essential for current collection development librarians and future librarians seeking guidance in this complex position.




Public Library Collections in the Balance


Book Description

A fascinating and informative read for librarians, library staff, and MLIS students, this book offers practical information and professional guidelines to examine current issues in censorship and libraries while also enabling readers to consider their own opinions about intellectual freedom. This book addresses contemporary issues in censorship and intellectual freedom and can serve as an invaluable resource for librarians and other library staff and as an eye-opening read for MLIS students. It covers the waterfront of intricate and thorny issues regarding intellectual freedom, including determining strategies for patron privacy, deciding how to filter public computers, handling challenges to items in a collection, and recognizing and eliminating under-the-radar self-censorship during collection development and weeding. Readers will also gain an understanding of the perils of over-reliance on community assessments and other evaluative tools and consider important concerns of public library employees, such as whether to restrict borrowing privileges of R-rated movies and M-rated video games to patrons of various ages, and the legalities that surround these questions. Each chapter blends instructive background narrative with practical advice, research findings, and relevant information about librarianship's professional guidelines, including the ALA's Library Bill of Rights and the Freedom to Read Statement. Vignettes, "what would you do?" examples, effective nonconfrontational techniques for conflict resolution, and lists of tips and traps help readers to think critically about their own biases and rehearse possible responses to controversial situations. Librarians, library staff, and MLIS students can use this book for personal professional development, as supplemental reading for MLIS courses or professional training workshops, or as a resource for library policy-planning discussions.










Supply Chain Management for Collection Services of Academic Libraries


Book Description

Library Supply Chain Management for Collection Services of Academic Libraries: Solving Operational Challenges and Enhancing User Productivity contains three sections, each comprised of several topical chapters on a particular subject. Part One explains why supply chain management is vital to libraries. Part Two builds on Part One, beginning with a classic supply chain model, including its brief history and current development. Part Three suggests a theoretical supply chain model based on emerging technological advancements of society. This model will develop based on four components, user goals, workflow efficiency, financial stewardship and core services. - Introduces supply chain management to library and information science - Provides the first study on supply chain integration for libraries to fulfill their mission in knowledge management and delivery - Provides practitioners and researchers with a model and theoretical framework of the supply chain to further study library science - Inspires researchers and practitioners to embrace or adopt emerging technologies for service and operational optimization







Recent Books