This book leads readers through an intriguing examination of how books began and have evolved through history and explores where future technologies may lead them. From ancient clay tablet and scrolls to medieval manuscripts and printed books to personal computers and iPads, this guide examines the fascinating history of books from 4000 BCE to the present. At each step of this evolution, technologies are examined and evaluated to show how these ideas are present from the very beginning of written communication. Moving chronologically from the ancient world to the present, the book shows how written communication media evolved from cuneiform to the Kindle. Focusing on key technologies and vital periods of historical transition, it traces an evolution that elucidates the history of the written word, at each step examining and evaluating such aspects of technologies as memory capacity, readability and writability, durability, recyclability, information security, ease and mode of access, and cost. Additional attention is paid to how these technologies were made, how they were circulated, and who was reading them. Provides faculty and students with a brief but fascinating and engagingly written textbook Includes hands-on activities and course assignments that encourage student learning Features interesting factoids and illustrations, making this book useful as a text, as a professional guide, or for pleasure reading

Successfully managing rare book collections requires very specific knowledge and skills. This handbook provides that essential information in a single volume. Rare Book Librarianship for the 21st Century is the first new rare books handbook of practice in 25 years. Authored by two special collections experts with extensive field experience, this book is also the first to discuss the role of digital technologies in managing a rare book collection. After a fascinating discussion of the history and current state of rare book libraries, this handbook provides a comprehensive account of the core skills and knowledge needed to be a successful rare book librarian. Topics include best practices for handling, housing, and conserving rare materials; collection development techniques; and user education and outreach. This book will serve as a handbook for practitioners in academic settings, large public libraries, and special libraries, and as a textbook for students in MLIS courses on rare book librarianship and curatorship. Provides a bibliography of reference resources for rare book librarians Includes sidebars with examples drawn from real-life experience

This latest addition to the Undergraduate Companion Series confirms that the literature of Renaissance England is alive and well in the new millennium, presenting undergraduate students with an abundance of important resources necessary for 21st-century literary research. The most authoritative, informative, and useful Web sites and print resources have been carefully selected to represent important writers of the English Renaissance, including figures in religion, philosophy, and political history who are not strictly literary, such as Thomas Hobbes and Queen Elizabeth I. In addition, this volume moves beyond the traditional canon, considering writers such as Aemilia Lanyer and Thomas Dekker alongside giants like Shakespeare, Milton, and Spenser. For each author you will find concise lists of the best Web sites and print resources, including biographies, criticisms, dictionaries, handbooks, indexes, concordances, journals, and bibliographies.