History of library and information science

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Library and information science (LIS), it may be argued, began with the first effort to organize a collection of information and provide access to that information. LIS should not be confused with information theory, the mathematical study of the concept of information, or information science, a field related to computer science and cognitive science; however, LIS makes use of facets of both these disciplines. (See Library and information science for a more detailed analysis.)

1 Early history
2 Ancient information retrieval
3 Jefferson's method
4 20th century
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Early history

Main article: Great libraries of the ancient world

At Ugarit in Syria excavations have revealed a palace library, temple library, and two private libraries which date back to around 1200 BCE, 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.

[edit] Ancient information retrieval

One of the curators of the imperial library in the Han Dynasty 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.

[edit] Jefferson's method

Thomas Jefferson, 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.

[edit] 20th century

The term "library science" first appeared in the early 1930's, 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). 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.