October 22, 2014 at 09:53AM
"Outside the rarefied world of library and information science almost no one had much cause to remember Paul Otlet." #readingToday

The dismantling of the World Palace by the Nazis all but guaranteed the Mundaneum's plunge into historical obscurity. In the years following the war, most Belgians turned their attention to rebuilding their country and securing a better future. Outside the rarefied world of library and information science, almost no one in Belgium— or anywhere else, for that matter— had much cause to remember Paul Otlet. A small band of former disciples, the Friends of the World Palace (" Les Amis du Palais Mondial"), met annually to commemorate his work and lay garlands on a bust of him, commissioned after his death.

Cataloging the World, Alex Wright