4 ms·

I vaguely recall having read some article or other about a pre-computer plan someone had for a "database of everything". I suspect the idea hinged on edge notc

• eesmith 9y ago
  Almost certainly you're thinking of Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine, leading to the Mundaneum. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mundaneum https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mundaneum > It aimed to gather together all the world's knowledge and classify it according to a system they developed called the Universal Decimal Classification. Quoting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Otlet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Otlet : > Otlet was responsible for the widespread adoption in Europe of the standard American 3x5 inch index card used until recently in most library catalogs around the world (by now largely displaced by the advent of the online public access catalog (OPAC)). Mechanized (but non-computer) versions of such a system include Vannevar Bush's Memex (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memex https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memex ) and more obscurely Calvin Mooers' DOKEN (http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=4243 http://www.historyofinformation.com/expanded.php?id=4243 ) and ... there's a French information scientist from the same era but I've forgotten his name. The materials I read said that after 10K-100K cards (forgot the actual tradeoff point), it's better to switch to interior cards because it becomes more worthwhile to sort by machine. The machines are expensive to rent, and not worthwhile until many searches are needed.