Encyclopedic Dictionary of Library and Information Science, Vols. I to III

"In the remotest past with the advancement of civilization and culture, the study of the historical development of earliest libraries and librarianship began with the Sumerian archives of clay tablets, probably in the third millennium B.C and including the papyrus manuscript of collections of ancient Egypt, the private collections of Greece, the public libraries and collections of Rome, the Cathedral and monastic libraries of medieval Europe, the Universities and humanist libraries of the European Renaissance and finally the modern libraries besides the precious collections of ancient Buddhist Universities and knowledge centres of India as well as other parts of South East Asian countries.

There is no doubt the earliest book production is reflected as human activities on papyrus scrolls in ancient Egypt, on tree bark or palm leaves in Asia, generally to record sacred prayers, hymns and rituals, traditional sagas and epics, lists of dynastic succession, laws and legal decisions, magical incantations, astronomical observations and predictions, as well as medical knowledge etc. For centuries books so written were in the form of manuscripts, generally produced in single copies.

The present voluminous work \'Encyclopedic Dictionary of Library and Information Science\' is a comprehensive glossary of technical terms arranged alphabetically covering a wide range of topics relating to the ancient to the modern libraries and allied branches of knowledge evolved over the centuries, together with the origin and development of printing technology, writings and reading habits.

This no doubt, will serve as a reference and useful glossary of library and information science terms to library professionals, students of library and information science as well as general readers."