"The Web That Wasn’t" by Wright

I thought this article was interesting because it outlined technological ‘dead ends’ in organizing information. The part about Paul Otlet was really interesting to me because of the sheer magnitude of the project as well as its complicatedness. I am not even sure that I understand what exactly it did or would have been able to do once it was up and running. Also surprising to me was how early his device was invented-before WWII. Whereas Bush’s Memex was a product of the post war transition, this guy seems to have been a more modern version to some extent of Da Vinci or one of those inventors from the Renaissance. The implications for his system could have been huge, and I wonder why it just did not end up working out. Also, why did the Nazis take down his work? The article said that it was to make way for an exhibition, but does that mean it would have been in the exhibition or they needed the physical space for their exhibit. One really interesting way that he thought about information was in a 3-dimensional way. Personally, I do not think I have ever made that explicit connection in my head. I actually learn much better through reading than interaction or exposure to information in physical terms. Except that really isn’t true, the more I think about it. Learning about and through antiques is one of my favorites things to do with my mom, either at a store or estate sale or auction. The history behind the object comes to life in a much more tangible way, I think, or complements the written history of a specific period. So really, I wonder why his approach has not been more influential in libraries, because libraries are a place of learning! We really need to look more at Otlet’s ideas and those of similar others about how we structure information and learning.