Page 27 - DLIS102_LIBRARY_AND_ITS_USERS

Library and its Users

Notes 4.1 Evolution of Library Science and Services

Library science is an interdisciplinary 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 political economy
of information. The first school for library science was founded by Melvil Dewey at Columbia
University in 1887.
Historically, library science has also included archival science. This includes how information
resources are organized to serve the needs of select user groups, how people interact with
classification systems and technology, how information is acquired, evaluated and applied by people
in and outside of libraries as well as cross-culturally, how people are trained and educated for
careers in libraries, the ethics that guide library service and organization, the legal status of libraries
and information resources, and the applied science of computer technology used in documentation
and records management. Academic courses in library science typically include collection
management, information systems and technology, research methods, cataloging and classification,
preservation, reference, statistics and management. Library science is constantly evolving,
incorporating new topics like database management, information architecture and knowledge
management, among others.
There is no generally agreed-upon distinction between the terms library science, librarianship, and
library and information science, and to a certain extent they are interchangeable, perhaps differing
most significantly in connotation. The term library and information science (LIS) is most often used;
most librarians consider it as only a terminological variation, intended to emphasize the scientific
and technical foundations of the subject and its relationship with information science. LIS should
not be confused with information theory, the mathematical study of the concept of information. LIS
can also be seen as an integration of the two fields, library science and information science, which
were separate at one point. Library philosophy has been contrasted with library science as the study
of the aims and justifications of librarianship as opposed to the development and refinement of
techniques.

History
The history of the library, it may be argued, began with the first effort to organize a collection of
information and provide access to that information.

Early History

At Ugarit in Syria excavations have revealed a palace library, temple library, and two private libraries
which dated 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.

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.

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