Cataloging the world
Paul Otlet and the birth of the information age
by Alex Wright · first published 2014
80% recommend20% neutral
"The dream of universal knowledge hardly started with the digital age. From the archives of Sumeria to the Library of Alexandria, humanity has long wrestled with information overload and management of intellectual output. Revived during the Renaissance and picking up pace in the Enlightenment, the dream grew and by the late nineteenth century was embraced by a number of visionaries who felt that at long last it was within their grasp. Among them, Paul Otlet stands out. A librarian by training, he worked at expanding the potential of the catalogue card -- the world's first information chip. Fro
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Thanks :-) I'll add Cataloging the World, by Alex Wright and Paper Machines: About Cards & Catalogs, 1548-1929 by Markus Krajewski plus few relatively recent articles: - Note Taking as an Art of Transmission http://doi.org/10.1086/427303 -…
on “The PARA Method: A Universal System for Organizing Digital Information” ↗…interested in the field of Information Science/Studies since discovering it recently. First via Semantic Web and Linked Data, then Taxonomy and Knowledge Management, then PKM and Zettelkasten. Just finished Cataloging the World about Paul Otlet. It’s a fantastic book.
on “Foundations of Information” ↗…Code (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/289947.Rebel_Code) Just for Fun (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/160171.Just_for_Fun?from...) The Computer - My Life (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/594610.The_Computer_My_L...) Cataloging the World: Paul Otlet and the Birth of the Information Age (https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18699137-cataloging-the-...)
on “The Joy of Computer History Books” ↗…you have any idea how that was done? I do not know any hardware way from that era that was able to connect 150 terminals to a single PC. For anyone interested, there is a nice book about Paul Otlet: "Cataloging the World: Paul Otlet and the Birth of the Information Age."
on “Ask HN: Why can't I learn anymore?” ↗This is German, but I found it very good: https://www.isi.hhu.de/fileadmin/redaktion/Fakultaeten/Philo... Books: * Cataloging the World * Organising Knowledge. Taxonomies, Knowledge and Organisational Effectiveness * The Intellectual Foundation of Information Organization * The Oxford Guide to Library Research
on “I am endlessly fascinated with content tagging systems” ↗…information. Interesting guy, and ahead of his time. It's too bad that his work (along with the rest of the world) was mostly dropped on the floor in the chaos of WWI and II. There's a book about him called, "Cataloging the World: Paul Otlet and the Birth of the Information Age." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Otlet
on “Does the world need polymaths?” ↗