A Brief History of Paul Otlet, the Little Known Grandfather of the World Wide Web

When we discuss hypertext as a key innovation in the realm of knowledge, especially in relation to new technologies, we often think of pioneers like Douglas Engelbart, Ted Nelson with his Project Xanadu, and even Vannebar Bush and his 1945 invention, the MEMEX, which never materialized beyond the idea stage. With that in mind, it’s important to remember that hypertext is fundamental to the World Wide Web.

While contemporaries like Tim Berners-Lee eventually acknowledged Bush’s creation, not many are familiar with the work of Paul Otlet, a Dutch librarian who had conceived a very similar idea a few years earlier.

In 1895, Otlet, with the support of Henri La Fontaine, a future Nobel Prize winner, initiated an ambitious project called the Répertoire Bibliographique Universel. The project aimed to create a bibliography cataloging all the publications of the world. With the support of the Belgian government, they began the task by creating more than fifteen million information cards (on paper, of course), perfectly categorized using the universal decimal system. Over time, they offered a commercial service where users could send in their queries and receive answers by telegram.

During the years dedicated to cataloging information, Otlet was also developing an idea for an institution that would be responsible for cataloging all human knowledge. This institution eventually came to be known as the Mundaneum.

“Everything in the universe, and everything of man, would be registered at a distance as it was produced. In this way a moving image of the world will be established, a true mirror of his memory. From a distance, everyone will be able to read text, enlarged and limited to the desired subject, projected on an individual screen. In this way, everyone from his armchair will be able to contemplate creation, as a whole or in certain of its parts.”

The development of this idea was also part of Otlet’s other works, which included a failed plan for a hypothetical world capital. He also envisioned creating a massive museum with over a hundred rooms, known as the Palais Mondial.

Otlet Wasn’t Alone

Otlet had connections with other creators of related ideas, such as Emanuel Goldberg, who invented a machine capable of quickly searching through large volumes of information. Goldberg, who was Jewish, was kidnapped and held by members of the Nazi syndicate. A few days later, he decided to emigrate, first to Paris and then to Palestine, abandoning his work. At a conference in Paris in 1937, he met Otlet and both had the opportunity to meet H. G. Wells. Wells had also published an essay called “World Brain,” where he included the following sentence:

“The whole human memory can be, and probably in a short time will be, made accessible to every individual.”

Shortly after, Belgium was invaded by the Nazis. Otlet was interrogated about his foreign contacts, and the Palais Mondial was broken into, destroying much of Otlet’s work in 1941. Following World War II, the documentation field focused its development on English-speaking authors, such as Bush, Nelson, or Engelbart.

There’s little connection between the work of Bush and Otlet, despite their obvious similarity (both relied on microfilms to store information). They also differed in key aspects. For example, Bush proposed a system with almost no classification, while Otlet, as a librarian, proposed a strict catalog based on the universal decimal system. Most importantly, Otlet recognized the concept of networking and the creation of a platform for sharing knowledge around the world, which Bush ignored.

In any case, one could say that both Bush and Otlet (as well as Goldberg, and even Wells) should be recognized, especially when discussing such a revolutionary tool in civilization as the World Wide Web.

This article was written by Manu Mateos and originally published in Spanish.

Image | Mark Wathieu

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