By any measure, Paul Otlet's vision of cataloging world knowledge on index cards (to the tune of 15,646,346 entries) was heroic in the same way that Leonardo, with leather and lath, longed to fly. Both had the jump on available materials and technology, yet both left their mark on the future.
A fascinating article (NewScientist, 22 March 2008) extols his visionary system and ideas within the physical constraints of his times (1920-1935). In his Traite de Documentation his imaginings for retrieving information were prescient:
"Cinema, phonograph, radio, television...have in fact become the new book," Otlet declared. He saw a time when radio, telephone and facsimile technologies would enable this desktop "electric telescope" to send and receive requests and commentary; hinged multiple desktop surfaces would allow the user to glide from one document to the next as they annotated, linked ideas, and responded to other users."
Although his efforts for the Mundaneum collapsed (like through 3 floors!), his contribution to cataloging endures.
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