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Gatekeepers of Knowledge

A Consideration of the Library, the Book and the Scholar in the Western World

  • 1st Edition - February 16, 2010
  • Latest edition
  • Authors: Margaret Zeegers, Deirdre Barron
  • Language: English

Throughout its history, the Western library has played a significant role in bringing the book to the hands of Western scholars. This book analyses that history, examining… Read more

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Description

Throughout its history, the Western library has played a significant role in bringing the book to the hands of Western scholars. This book analyses that history, examining constructs of librarianship, publishing and scholarship within that history as gate keeping access to knowledge. Exploring significant events in the field from the time of the Lyceum to the present day in the development of repositories of books and their access by scholars. Gatekeepers of Knowledge engages in an analysis of those events from a perspective that makes visible the ways in which the production, storage and access of books, have been privileged, while others have been marginalised.

Key features

  • Examines its material as analyses of significant events in the development of libraries, books, and scholarship in the western world
  • Embeds those developments in significant political, economic, social and cultural fields of particular eras
  • Ties scholarship to class structures and associated protocols in its treatment of scholarship as the generation of knowledge

Readership

Practicing academics in the field of librarianship, pedagogy, critical theory, language arts, education, English and other humanities-based subjects

Table of contents

From the agora to the scriptoria; From the scriptoria to the printery; From the printery to the bookshelves; From the bookshelves to the study; Scholars of the second millennium.

Review quotes

"Descriptively titled, thought provoking and easily read, this book is a gem."—The Australian Library Journal

"This is a hugely valid and valuable book for librarians, publishers and those interested in critically engaging with the slippery concept of the Information Society."—Journal of Librarianship and Information Science

"Provides an excellent discussion of the many elements that have shaped scholarship, research, knowledge, and libraries through the medium of the written word."—Australian Academic & Research Libraries

Product details

  • Edition: 1
  • Latest edition
  • Published: February 16, 2010
  • Language: English

About the authors

MZ

Margaret Zeegers

Dr Margaret Zeegers is President of the Australian National Section of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) and a Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Ballarat, Victoria, Australia where she is the Coordinator of the English programs delivered in that School.
Affiliations and expertise
Coordinator of English programs, University of Ballarat, Ballarat, Australia

DB

Deirdre Barron

Dr Deirdre Barron is the Director of the National Institute for Design Research at Swinburne University of Technology, Victoria, Australia.
Affiliations and expertise
Director, National Institute for Design Research, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia

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