Some of the world's most treasured documents are literary works written thousands of years ago such as Chariton's Charaeus and Petronius' Satyricon. What gave rise to the importance of literature was the need to record events whether in a non-fictional or fictional nature. Literature may be defined as any work that is comprised of text. The world's oldest pieces of literature are incorporated into the Bible at over 3,000 years old. There are also literary works of the Mesopotamians that are considered to be 3300-3500 years old. The oldest novel is "The Tale of Genjii", a Japanese literary work 1,000 years old. In the world of literature, there are several categories in which literature may be classified: Biography, online games kostenlos fiction, non-fiction, autobiography and reference literature. These categorical definitions help determine the type of literature for reader identification. There are also overriding categories of literature: classic, traditional and contemporary.

Within these categories are biographies, fiction and non-fiction, autobiographies, poetic novels and short-story collections. Usually, the text of these works of literature determine the category in which it falls. Along with this is the age of the written text. The most valuable works of literature are those that are collected in literary archives. The authors of literary work often determine value as well. First editions of writings add to this literary value. In Asian, European, Nordic and western cultures, the most valuable literature is considered national treasure. On rare occasions, usually the anniversary of the book's first printing or the birthday of the author, these treasured texts are placed on exhibit as a means of raising interest or in the name of raising funds for the archive in which it is stored. Over time, these texts became fragile and require special storage and handling to prevent further damage. Often, such rare books are placed in literary museums where they are not subject to damage from light and humidity and are handled with specially designed protective gloves.