CATALOGING THE WORLD: PAUL OTLET AND THE BIRTH OF THE INFORMATION AGE

摘要

As everyone knows, the technology behind the Internet emerged from United States government-funded research with digital computers during the cold war. Less well known are the Internet's conceptual origins. The visionary Belgian librarian Paul Otlet, who died in 1944, is not a figure familiar to many engineers or scientists. Yet Otlet is increasingly regarded by information scientists -including the management of the search engine Google - as one of the godfathers of the Internet, along with his celebrated contemporary HG Wells. New York-based designer Alex Wright's welcome and readable biography, 'Cataloging the World', explains why Otlet deserves to be more widely known.