[Sigia-l] Re: Semantically linked library catalogues

[alex wright]

Yogesh Tadwalkar wrote:

> In simple words, the idea of semantic linking is that books in the library
> will be indexed and linked together NOT just based on topics or other
> traditional methods but on more granular things like content of the books,
> etc

The notion of a "semantically linked catalog" reminds me of Paul Otlet's 
vision of the "Universal Book": a catalog that would do more than just index 
bibliographic data, but would penetrate the contents of books to unearth "the 
connections each document has with all other documents, forming from them what 
might be called the Universal Book.”

While I wouldn't necessarily endorse Otlet's Universal Decimal Classification  
as the right way to go about doing this today, his work might provide a useful 
historical reference point.  For more on Otlet and the Universal Book:

http://www.boxesandarrows.com/archives/forgotten_forefather_paul_otlet.php

http://alexia.lis.uiuc.edu/gslis/people/faculty/fac_papers/rayward/rayward3.htm
l

http://www.fims.uwo.ca/people/faculty/frohmann/Jelis.htm


regards,
alex
-----------
alex wright
alex at agwright.com | www.agwright.com