SKU: 69253304437

Cataloging the World: Paul Otlet and the Birth of the Information Age

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Cataloging the World: Paul Otlet and the Birth of the Information AgeThe dream of capturing and organizing knowledge is as old as history. From the archives of ancient Sumeria and the Library of Alexandria to the Library of Congress and Wikipedia, humanity has wrestled with the problem of harnessing its intellectual output. The timeless quest for wisdom has been as much about information storage and retrieval as creative genius. In Cataloging the World, Alex Wright introduces us to a figure who stands out in the long

The dream of capturing and organizing knowledge is as old as history. From the archives of ancient Sumeria and the Library of Alexandria to the Library of Congress and Wikipedia, humanity has wrestled with the problem of harnessing its intellectual output. The timeless quest for wisdom has been as much about information storage and retrieval as creative genius.

In Cataloging the World, Alex Wright introduces us to a figure who stands out in the long line of thinkers and idealists who devoted themselves to the task. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, Paul Otlet, a librarian by training, worked at expanding the potential of the catalog card, the world's first information chip. From there followed universal libraries and museums, connecting his native Belgium to the world by means of a vast intellectual enterprise that attempted to organize and code everything ever published. Forty years before the first personal computer and fifty years before the first browser, Otlet envisioned a network of "electric telescopes" that would allow people everywhere to search through books, newspapers, photographs, and recordings, all linked together in what he termed, in 1934, a reseau mondial--essentially, a worldwide web.

Otlet's life achievement was the construction of the Mundaneum--a mechanical collective brain that would house and disseminate everything ever committed to paper. Filled with analog machines such as telegraphs and sorters, the Mundaneum--what some have called a "Steampunk version of hypertext"--was the embodiment of Otlet's ambitions. It was also short-lived. By the time the Nazis, who were pilfering libraries across Europe to collect information they thought useful, carted away Otlet's collection in 1940, the dream had ended. Broken, Otlet died in 1944.

Wright's engaging intellectual history gives Otlet his due, restoring him to his proper place in the long continuum of visionaries and pioneers who have struggled to classify knowledge, from H.G. Wells and Melvil Dewey to Vannevar Bush, Ted Nelson, Tim Berners-Lee, and Steve Jobs. Wright shows that in the years since Otlet's death the world has witnessed the emergence of a global network that has proved him right about the possibilities--and the perils--of networked information, and his legacy persists in our digital world today, captured for all time.



Binding Type: Hardcover
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Published: 06/01/2014
ISBN: 9780199931415
Pages: 350
Weight: 1.05lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.70w x 1.20d

Review Citations: Kirkus Reviews 04/15/2014
Publishers Weekly 04/21/2014
Choice 12/01/2014 pg. 654
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SKU: 69253304437

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Cynthia DiZio
San Leandro, US
★★★★★ 5
This is a favorite…
Format: Board book
I love Eric Carle and this book always brings smiles to little faces! The illustrations/paintings are so fun and vibrant and the animal sounds are very exciting for babies and toddlers to hear. When they are able to push the images themselves to make the sounds.. it’s a very proud moment for them😉. Books can help create and sustain wonder. There are so many beautiful ones..and this is a classic.
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Laura
Carnegie, US
★★★★★ 5
Great book
Format: Board book
Arrived a few days ahead of schedule, all electronic buttons work, no wear and tear at all really (for being a used book at 3$ instead of 22$ it was a hell of a deal) would gladly by from this thrift store again. As for the book my toddler LOVES it. Animal sounds are clear and entertaining to him, there is also some weather sounds for storms and rain. And some random buttons for up and jump and a weird musical cues (overall less then 5 semi pointless buttons) it’s a good one for toddlers :) ADDED INFO : okay so the back is so heavy it’s completely split into two . Not the sellers fault- it’s just seen that much use... repaired it with cloth and electrical tape we will see how it does.
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Lisa L fantini
Lake Worth, US
★★★★★ 5
Family
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Really excellent quality, teaches my granddaughter her snimal and sounds
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Reviewed in the United States on November 28, 2025
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Jefferson B.
Alexandria, US
★★★★★ 5
My kid loves it
Format: Board book
I gave this book to my little boy as he usually looks at it in youtube. The look on his face when he received this book is priceless. No words can describe the feeling of happiness on his face. It was an amazing experience for me as well. This book, he bring wherever he goes. Because of the hard bound cover, it withstood his constant abuse. Volume and clarity of the sounds were amazing.
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Linda B in Colorado
San Leandro, US
★★★★★ 5
This one is a favorite!
Format: Board book
This really holds the interest of a toddler who loves animals, animal sounds, and pushing buttons! Good sound quality, and it's nice to have something to read about the animals instead of just labeled pictures.
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Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2024

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