Library collections organisation in the Mediterranean area ca 2500 BC. 400 AD.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the ancient library organisation in the Mediterranean area. The focus of the study is if they used catalogues, marked their material and their methods for shelving. During the ancient period the people used to write on clay tablets, parchment- or papyrusrolls and codex, which was significant for the organisation. The method, which I use, for the examination is based on criticism of the sources, how the modern scholars has interpreted ancient remains and texts. The study shows that the first evidence for library organisation is from Mesopotamia 2350 BC. After some time the catalogues developed and they marked and collected their documents in special rooms. The private libraries dominated in Greece, which were arranged systematically, before the Great library in Museion, Alexandria. Many cataloguers worked with different genres and the most famous man was Kallimachos and his Pinakes. The Romans overtook the Greek library traditions, but instead of building libraries with small rooms they build large libraries with two language sections, one Greek and one Latin. The Romans kept their documents in numbered bookcases. The large number of libraries in Rome together worked as a universal library. During the late ancient period the libraries had to give way for the Christian monastery libraries and the beginnings of a new organisation with codex.Uppsatsnivå: