Book Collection and Culture

Author: Zhou Shaochuan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-06-01
Features: Ancient book collection systems can be broadly divided into private and public collections. Public collections, including national libraries, local government libraries, college and academy libraries, and Buddhist and Taoist temple libraries, exist as cultural facilities or collective properties of the state, local government, or community. They are collected and managed by official bodies or groups, with the custodians having only the responsibility of preservation rather than true ownership. Moreover, they often cannot be involved in the entire process of book collection, which includes searching, acquisition, identification, collation, organization, cataloging, and preservation. Although public libraries have the glorious achievements of Liu Xiang and Liu Xin in book collation, most public libraries cannot, like private collections, dedicate themselves to books in the interaction between subject and object, accumulating rich cultural connotations. This is another reason why this book chooses private collections as its research subject.