TY - JOUR
T1 - How do you Reconstruct a Historic Private Library?
T2 - A Methodological Review and Checklist for First-Time Historical-Bibliographic Sleuths
AU - Penge, Edwina
PY - 2020/6/12
Y1 - 2020/6/12
N2 - Despite the number of studies which set out to reconstruct an individual’s library, critical reviews of the methodology of library reconstruction seem to be lacking within the discourse of library history. So, the question arises, ‘How do you reconstruct a historic, private library?’ This article examines the practical ‘how to’ of library reconstruction with a view to offering guidance to librarians and, particularly, to students and new researchers who have encountered the remnants of, or clues to, ‘lost’ libraries and wondered where to go from there. As such, the article reviews the approaches used in previous reconstructions and considers whether these might be distilled into a reconstruction checklist which may guide the researcher as to actions to take and issues to consider when embarking on their reconstruction project.
AB - Despite the number of studies which set out to reconstruct an individual’s library, critical reviews of the methodology of library reconstruction seem to be lacking within the discourse of library history. So, the question arises, ‘How do you reconstruct a historic, private library?’ This article examines the practical ‘how to’ of library reconstruction with a view to offering guidance to librarians and, particularly, to students and new researchers who have encountered the remnants of, or clues to, ‘lost’ libraries and wondered where to go from there. As such, the article reviews the approaches used in previous reconstructions and considers whether these might be distilled into a reconstruction checklist which may guide the researcher as to actions to take and issues to consider when embarking on their reconstruction project.
KW - bibliographical methods
KW - Library reconstruction
KW - private libraries
KW - provenance
KW - reading studies
KW - reconstruction methodology
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85087318054&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/17583489.2019.1754105
DO - 10.1080/17583489.2019.1754105
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85087318054
SN - 1758-3489
VL - 35
SP - 193
EP - 213
JO - Library and Information History
JF - Library and Information History
IS - 4
ER -