安·布萊爾，現任哈佛大學曆史學教授。主要從事前近代歐洲文化史和知識史、書籍史、科學史等領域的研究。

徐波，四川大學曆史係教授，研究方嚮為14-18世紀歐洲史、西方史學史。

The flood of information brought to us by advancing technology is often accompanied by a distressing sense of 'information overload', yet this experience is not unique to modern times. In fact, says Ann Blair in this intriguing book, the invention of the printing press and the ensuing abundance of books provoked sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European scholars to register complaints very similar to our own. The author examines methods of information management in ancient and medieval Europe as well as the Islamic world and China, then focuses particular attention on the organization, composition, and reception of Latin reference books in print in early modern Europe. She explores in detail the sophisticated and sometimes idiosyncratic techniques that scholars and readers developed in an era of new technology and exploding information.