Cataloging the World

In 1934, a Belgian entrepreneur named Paul Otlet sketched out plans for a worldwide network of computers—or "electric telescopes," as he called them — that would allow people anywhere in the world to search and browse through millions of books, newspapers, photographs, films and sound recordings, all linked together in what he termed a réseau mondial: a "worldwide web." Today, Otlet and his visionary proto-Internet have been all but forgotten, thanks to a series of historical misfortunes — not least of which involved the Nazis marching into Brussels and destroying most of his life´s work. In the years since Otlet´s death, however, the world has witnessed the emergence of a global network that has proved him right about the possibilities — and the perils — of networked information.