ABSTRACT
Knowledge is a large, vague term often considered coterminous with civilization. In this first section, we narrow the scope of the term to suggest that much of what we think of as knowledge is embedded in literate institutions and associated with particular forms of writing. This chapter and the next then review the forms of written knowledge and the institutions by which this knowledge has been produced and disseminated in various societies. A third chapter (11) then examines the institutions created to archive, maintain, organize, and index knowledge.
