![handle is hein.journals/lgrefsq26 and id is 1 raw text is: Introduction
The history of the library as an institution is remarkably tied to the
development of Western culture. Libraries have existed almost as long
as the written word, and librarians came into being not long after librar-
ies. The first libraries may have been organized as early as 5,000 years
ago,I with the extraordinary collection assembled in Alexandria, Egypt
around 300 BC being the culmination of years of librarianship. The
Greeks brought the institution to the West, and incorporated it into their
intellectual and literary communities; Aristotle's and Plato's academies
are both thought to have had libraries.2 As Western culture spread around
the world, the great libraries of Western Europe followed in the Alexan-
drian tradition, and were the forebears of the libraries of the Americas.
Just as libraries evolved as institutions, so have the duties of those who
work in the libraries. From the early days, librarians were more than just
keepers of books (or documents or scrolls). The earliest known cata-
logs, presumably from Sumeria, date from around 2000 BC,3 and de-
bates over the organization of materials (by color, size, author, subject,
binding material, etc.) were typical from earliest days.4 Interlibrary loan
and the exchange of duplicate materials flourished in medieval times.5
The practices of early librarians were more in keeping with the functions
we now characterize more generally as technical services, however.
Public services are a relatively recent innovation. The actual circulation
of library materials, for example, developed in the 1700s, as the chains that
kept books in the physical library of the monasteries and universities of
Europe were cut. Reference services, an American innovation, can
[Haworth co-indexing entry note]: Introduction. Bintliff, Barbara, and Lee F. Peoples. Co-published
simultaneously in Legal Reference Services Quarterly® (The Haworth Information Press, Inc., an imprint of
The Haworth Press, Inc.) Vol. 26, No. 1/2, 2007, pp. 1-6; and: Public Services in Law Libraries: Evolution
and Innovation in the 21st Century (ed: Barbara Bintliff and Lee F. Peoples) The Haworth Information Press,
Inc., an imprint of The Haworth Press, 2007, pp. 1-6. Single or multiple copies of this article are available for
a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service [1-800-HAWORTH, 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (EST).
E-mail address: docdelivery@haworthpress.com].
Available online at http://lrsq.haworthpress.com
@ 2007 by The Haworth Press, Inc. All rights reserved
doi:10.1300/J113v26nO1 01 1](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/lgrefsq26&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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