Abstract:

This paper presents and explains the theory of ‘literature discovery’, and makes discussion on its
methodology. Further, it expounds the significance of ‘literature discovery’ theory, which is the new social role
and core competitiveness of contemporary library. The proposal of this theory will promote the collectionbuilding
theory and the further development of theoretical research on library functions. This paper also gives
an example of ‘literature discovery’ regarding the philosophy and social science literature.

Key words: Literature discovery, Literature evaluation, Collection construction, Function theory, Standard bibliography