Mundaneum
Encyclopedia
The Mundaneum was an institution created in 1910 out of the initiative of two Belgian lawyers Paul Otlet
and Henri La Fontaine
as part of their documentation science
. It aimed to gather together all the world's knowledge
and classify it according to a system they developed called the Universal Decimal Classification
.
Otlet and La Fontaine organized an International Conference of International Associations which caused the creation of the Union of International Associations
(UIA).
Otlet regarded the project as the centerpiece of a new 'world city'—a centrepiece which eventually became an archive
with more than 12 million index card
s and documents. Some consider it a forerunner of the internet
(or, perhaps more appropriately, of systematic knowledge projects such as Wikipedia
and WolframAlpha) and Otlet himself had dreams that one day, somehow, all the information he collected could be accessed by people from the comfort of their own homes.
The Mundaneum was originally housed at the Palais du Cinquantenaire
in Brussels
(Belgium). The Mundaneum has since been relocated to a converted 1930s department store in Mons
(Wallonia).
An English pamphlet published in 1914 contains this description:
Otlet commissioned architect Le Corbusier
to design a Mundaneum project to be built in Geneva, Switzerland in 1929. Although never built, the project triggered The Mundaneum Affair, a theoretical argument between Corbusier and Czech critic Karel Teige
.
The Mundaneum is featured in Wolfram’s Timeline of Systematic Data and the Development of Computable Knowledge, which marks many significant milestones in the history of data collection and management.
People
Ideas
Paul Otlet
Paul Marie Ghislain Otlet was an author, entrepreneur, visionary, lawyer and peace activist; he is one of several people who have been considered the father of information science, a field he called "documentation". Otlet created the Universal Decimal Classification, one of the most prominent...
and Henri La Fontaine
Henri La Fontaine
Henri La Fontaine , was a Belgian international lawyer and president of the International Peace Bureau. He received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1913.-Biography:...
as part of their documentation science
Documentation science
-Introduction:Documentation science, documentation studies or just documentation is a field of study and a profession founded by Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine . Professionals educated in this field are termed documentalists...
. It aimed to gather together all the world's knowledge
Knowledge
Knowledge is a familiarity with someone or something unknown, which can include information, facts, descriptions, or skills acquired through experience or education. It can refer to the theoretical or practical understanding of a subject...
and classify it according to a system they developed called the Universal Decimal Classification
Universal Decimal Classification
The Universal Decimal Classification is a system of library classification developed by the Belgian bibliographers Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine at the end of the 19th century. It is based on the Dewey Decimal Classification, but uses auxiliary signs to indicate various special aspects of a...
.
Otlet and La Fontaine organized an International Conference of International Associations which caused the creation of the Union of International Associations
Union of International Associations
The Union of International Associations is a non-profit non-governmental organization researching, under UN mandate, the global civil society and publishing information on international organizations, international meetings, world problems, etc. Headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium...
(UIA).
Otlet regarded the project as the centerpiece of a new 'world city'—a centrepiece which eventually became an archive
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
with more than 12 million index card
Index card
An index card consists of heavy paper stock cut to a standard size, used for recording and storing small amounts of discrete data. It was invented by Carl Linnaeus, around 1760....
s and documents. Some consider it a forerunner of the internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
(or, perhaps more appropriately, of systematic knowledge projects such as Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
and WolframAlpha) and Otlet himself had dreams that one day, somehow, all the information he collected could be accessed by people from the comfort of their own homes.
The Mundaneum was originally housed at the Palais du Cinquantenaire
Cinquantenaire Museum
The Cinquantenaire Museum or Jubilee Park Museum is located in the Cinquantenaire park in Brussels, Belgium. It is part of the Royal Museums for Art and History, which is a Belgian federal institute of the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office ....
in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
(Belgium). The Mundaneum has since been relocated to a converted 1930s department store in Mons
Mons
Mons is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Hainaut, of which it is the capital. The Mons municipality includes the old communes of Cuesmes, Flénu, Ghlin, Hyon, Nimy, Obourg, Baudour , Jemappes, Ciply, Harmignies, Harveng, Havré, Maisières, Mesvin, Nouvelles,...
(Wallonia).
An English pamphlet published in 1914 contains this description:
The International Centre organises collections of world-wide importance. These collections are the International Museum, the International Library, the International Bibliographic Catalogue and the Universal Documentary Archives. These collections are conceived as parts of one universal body of documentation, as an encyclopedic survey of human knowledge, as an enormous intellectual warehouse of books, documents, catalogues and scientific objects. Established according to standardized methods, they are formed by assembling cooperative everything that the participating associations may gather or classify. Closely consolidated and coordinated in all of their parts and enriched by duplicates of all private works wherever undertaken, these collections will tend progressively to constitute a permanent and complete representation of the entire world. (Union of International Associations, 1914, p. 116).
Otlet commissioned architect Le Corbusier
Le Corbusier
Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier , was a Swiss-born French architect, designer, urbanist, writer and painter, famous for being one of the pioneers of what now is called modern architecture. He was born in Switzerland and became a French citizen in 1930...
to design a Mundaneum project to be built in Geneva, Switzerland in 1929. Although never built, the project triggered The Mundaneum Affair, a theoretical argument between Corbusier and Czech critic Karel Teige
Karel Teige
Karel Teige was the major figure of the Czech avant-garde movement Devětsil in the 1920s, a graphic artist, photographer, and typographer...
.
The Mundaneum is featured in Wolfram’s Timeline of Systematic Data and the Development of Computable Knowledge, which marks many significant milestones in the history of data collection and management.
See also
- Documentation scienceDocumentation science-Introduction:Documentation science, documentation studies or just documentation is a field of study and a profession founded by Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine . Professionals educated in this field are termed documentalists...
- As We May ThinkAs We May ThinkAs We May Think is an essay by Vannevar Bush, first published in The Atlantic Monthly in July 1945, and republished again as an abridged version in September 1945 — before and after the U.S. nuclear attacks on Japan...
, an essay by Vannevar Bush - Project XanaduProject XanaduProject Xanadu was the first hypertext project, founded in 1960 by Ted Nelson. Administrators of Project Xanadu have declared it an improvement over the World Wide Web, with mission statement: "Today's popular software simulates paper...
, the first hypertext system founded in 1960 by Ted NelsonTed NelsonTheodor Holm Nelson is an American sociologist, philosopher, and pioneer of information technology. He coined the terms "hypertext" and "hypermedia" in 1963 and published it in 1965... - MemexMemexThe memex is the name given by Vannevar Bush to the hypothetical proto-hypertext system he described in his 1945 The Atlantic Monthly article As We May Think...
, a portmanteau given by Vannevar Bush to the theoretical proto-hypertext computer system - MyLifeBitsMyLifeBitsMyLifeBits is a Microsoft Research project. It was inspired by Vannevar Bush's hypothetical Memex computer system. The project includes full-text search, text and audio annotations, and hyperlinks. The "experimental subject" of the project is computer scientist Gordon Bell, and the project will...
People
- Andries van DamAndries van DamAndries "Andy" van Dam is a Dutch-born American professor of computer science and former Vice-President for Research at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Together with Ted Nelson he contributed to the first hypertext system, HES in the late 1960s. He co-authored Computer Graphics:...
- Douglas EngelbartDouglas EngelbartDouglas Carl Engelbart is an American inventor, and an early computer and internet pioneer. He is best known for his work on the challenges of human-computer interaction, resulting in the invention of the computer mouse, and the development of hypertext, networked computers, and precursors to GUIs...
- J.C.R. Licklider
- Ted NelsonTed NelsonTheodor Holm Nelson is an American sociologist, philosopher, and pioneer of information technology. He coined the terms "hypertext" and "hypermedia" in 1963 and published it in 1965...
- Paul OtletPaul OtletPaul Marie Ghislain Otlet was an author, entrepreneur, visionary, lawyer and peace activist; he is one of several people who have been considered the father of information science, a field he called "documentation". Otlet created the Universal Decimal Classification, one of the most prominent...
, considered one of the fathers of information scienceInformation science-Introduction:Information science is an interdisciplinary science primarily concerned with the analysis, collection, classification, manipulation, storage, retrieval and dissemination of information...
, helped established the Mundaneum and created the Universal Decimal ClassificationUniversal Decimal ClassificationThe Universal Decimal Classification is a system of library classification developed by the Belgian bibliographers Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine at the end of the 19th century. It is based on the Dewey Decimal Classification, but uses auxiliary signs to indicate various special aspects of a... - Tim Berners-LeeTim Berners-LeeSir Timothy John "Tim" Berners-Lee, , also known as "TimBL", is a British computer scientist, MIT professor and the inventor of the World Wide Web...
- Vannevar BushVannevar BushVannevar Bush was an American engineer and science administrator known for his work on analog computing, his political role in the development of the atomic bomb as a primary organizer of the Manhattan Project, the founding of Raytheon, and the idea of the memex, an adjustable microfilm viewer...
Ideas
- External memory
- HypermediaHypermediaHypermedia is a computer-based information retrieval system that enables a user to gain or provide access to texts, audio and video recordings, photographs and computer graphics related to a particular subject.Hypermedia is a term created by Ted Nelson....
- HypertextHypertextHypertext is text displayed on a computer or other electronic device with references to other text that the reader can immediately access, usually by a mouse click or keypress sequence. Apart from running text, hypertext may contain tables, images and other presentational devices. Hypertext is the...
- Intelligence amplificationIntelligence amplificationIntelligence amplification refers to the effective use of information technology in augmenting human intelligence...
- Office of the futureOffice of the futureThe office of the future is a concept dating from the 1940s. It is also known as the "paperless office". After sixty years of unfulfilled prophecies the phrase "paperless office" has been discredited somewhat...
- Victorian InternetVictorian InternetThe Victorian Internet: The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-Line Pioneers is a 1998 book by Tom Standage. It is about the development and uses of the electric telegraph during the second half of the 19th Century and some of the similarities the telegraph shared...
, term coined to describe advanced 19th century telecommunications technologies such as the telegraph - World Wide WebWorld Wide WebThe World Wide Web is a system of interlinked hypertext documents accessed via the Internet...
Additional sources
- Rayward's Otlet Page: Paul Otlet and Documentation
- World of Learning and a Virtual Library Barry James, International Herald Tribune, June 27 1998.
- Histories: When the internet was made of paper Paul Collins, NewScientist, 22 March 22 2008.
- The Web that time forgot Alex Wright, The New York Times, June 17 2008.
- Architectures of Global Knowledge: The Mundaneum and the World Wide Web Charles van den Heuvel, Destination Library 15, 2008.
External links
- Official website of Mundaneum museum in Mons, Belgium