THE UNIVERSE OF INFORMATION.pdf - ideals

national service whose object would be to organise world documentation
in economic, .industrial, commercial, legal and social matters as
well as in connected subjects. 60
Another resolution of the Congress was equally, important:
Close relations should be established between the museums on the one
hand, and, on the other, inquiry and information offices in economic
matters, in such a way as to complete a physical documentation in the
one (objects or facsimiles) by graphic documentation in the other
(writing, printed materials, drawings, photographs) and reciprocally
to put the museums and information offices in relation with the press
in order to give it documentation for its task of educating the public
in economic matters. 61
These resolutions encouraged Otlet to plan and to work
for increased support for the expansion of the OIB—IIB. Late
in 1905 he addressed a memorandum to the government setting
out four proposals. The first was that the government
should call a conference to create an International Union for
Documentation. The OIB would be the headquarters of the
Union and would «act as the central institution co-ordinating
the work of the office and that of the national bibliographical
services*. In joining the Union, governments would
ensure that their countries published a national bibliography
and adopted the minimum bibliographical rules, promulgated
by the OIB, for all bibliographic work. Secondly, Otlet proposed
that the government help the OIB create a national
documentation service in economic, technical and commercial
matters. This service would develop an up-to-date documentary
repertory drawing its material from patents, government
documents, statistical publications, tariff documents and technical
and commercial annuals amongst other sources. The
government would need to provide the OIB with free locations
for such a service, furniture to house the new repertories
contemplated for it and an additional annual subsidy of
15,000 francs. Thirdly, the government should set up an Information
Service for Scientific and Educational Institutes in
Belgium. This service, to be part of the OIB, also, would
publish an annual. Finally the Government should set up a
Service for the National Bibliography and Catalogues of the
Libraries of Belgium. This would co-ordinate and extend
services already existing. 62 Of course, Otlet had already begun
to put most elements of this program into effect well before
1905. The Congress of Mons and the awakened government
interest in information services provided him with an opportunity
to push ahead with his long-standing plans, of which
the oldest and most central was that for a Documentary
Union of Governments. The proposals were not immediately
acted on as such.
Nevertheless, in May 1906 a Commission was appointed
by the Minister for the Interior and Public Instruction. Its
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