Diderot and Otlet

Comments on two major contributions to knowledge organization

Abstract

The paper analyses and compares two contributions to knowledge organization related to the representation of science and links between knowledge fields: Diderot in the Encylopédie ou Dictionnnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers and Otlet with his his “Répertoire Universel de Documentation”. The study is based on Diderot’s articles in Encyclopédie and Otlet’s archives. It highlights how a genetic model of knowledge, based on the idea of a common origin of knowledge and on knowledge trees representation still used in the digital world, is challenged by cross–cutting approaches. These approaches were aimed at allowing human interactions through conversation (Diderot) and international intellectual cooperation (Otlet). At the same time science becomes more than a set of disciplines: it concerns “arts and “métiers” for the encyclopedists and all kind of information according to Otlet. Then, the extension of these two intellectual revolutions to contemporary issues related to “domain analysis” and “enhanced document” is tackled.