In Jennifer Summit’s account, libraries are more than inert storehouses of written tradition; they are volatile spaces that actively shape the meanings and uses of books, reading, and the past. Considering the two-hundred-year period between 1431, which saw the foundation of Duke Humfrey’s famous library, and 1631, when the great antiquarian Sir Robert Cotton died, Memory’s Library revises the history of the modern library by focusing on its origins in medieval and early modern England. Summit argues that the medieval sources that survive in English collections are the product of a Reformation and post-Reformation struggle to redefine the past by redefining the cultural place, function, and identity of libraries. By establishing the intellectual dynamism of English libraries during this crucial period of their development, Memory’s Library demonstrates how much current discussions about the future of libraries can gain by reexamining their past.

The study of medieval literature has experienced a revolution in the last two decades, which has reinvigorated many parts of the discipline and changed the shape of the subject in relation to the scholarship of the previous generation. 'New' texts (laws and penitentials, women's writing, drama records), innovative fields and objects of study (the history of the book, the study of space and the body, medieval masculinities), and original ways of studying them (the Sociology of the Text, performance studies) have emerged. This has brought fresh vigour and impetus to medieval studies, and impacted significantly on cognate periods and areas. The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Literature in English brings together the insights of these new fields and approaches with those of more familiar texts and methods of study, to provide a comprehensive overview of the state of medieval literature today. It also returns to first principles in posing fundamental questions about the nature, scope, and significance of the discipline, and the directions that it might take in the next decade. The Handbook contains 44 newly commissioned essays from both world-leading scholars and exciting new scholarly voices. Topics covered range from the canonical genres of Saints' lives, sermons, romance, lyric poetry, and heroic poetry; major themes including monstrosity and marginality, patronage and literary politics, manuscript studies and vernacularity are investigated; and there are close readings of key texts, such as Beowulf, Wulf and Eadwacer, and Ancrene Wisse and key authors from Ælfric to Geoffrey Chaucer, Langland, and the Gawain Poet.

Important intervention in Middle English studies that challenges widely accepted narratives on the identities of Chaucer's scribes.

The Memory of Mankind is an illustrated history of the unique role libraries have played in the history of civilzation. Don Heinrich Tolzmann took the classic German-language work The History of Libraires by Alfred Hessel (published 1925 and translated by Reuben Peiss in 1950) and expanded it with additional text to cover the important past 75 years. Tolzmann also completely rewrote the first chapter due to the discovery of many clay tablet libraries in the ancient Middle East, thus expanding our library history knowledge back 5,000 years.

In today’s digital era, the emergence of digital libraries, collections, and repositories stands as a significant advancement. Across various organizations, there’s a notable shift toward digitization driven by both technological advancements and the proliferation of vast amounts of data, texts, artworks, and other collections. With information volumes reaching unprecedented levels, the imperative to organize it in digital formats becomes apparent. This digital transformation has given rise to a pervasive digital culture, particularly evident in academic libraries, museums, and nonprofit organizations. This culture profoundly influences how information is accessed, utilized, and organized. The book addresses key aspects of this digital paradigm, including digitization processes, open access principles, and the protocols and standards governing the utilization of digital information. It examines the broader landscape of digital libraries, repositories, and collections found in galleries and museums. Moreover, the book explores the evolving skill sets required by users in adapting to these digital advancements, as well as the standards necessary for implementing digital organizational structures. By taking a comprehensive view, it highlights both the advantages and challenges posed by these digital developments, offering insights into their multifaceted impacts on contemporary society.