The Key to the Library's Collection: Rules and Practices

The tool people have used for centuries to order knowledge and make it accessible is the catalogue. According to the general definitions this is a list of books and other documents, compiled based on specific rules with reference to their location. In the fourth millennium before Christ, clay tablets were already used as information medium and shelved in the library on numbered racks. The most famous library in antiquity was the one in Alexandria, founded at the start of the third century before Christ. The enormous book rolls were classified systematically by theme. ¹