THE UNIVERSE OF INFORMATION.pdf - ideals

ORGANISATION OF THE FIRST
QUINZAINE INTERNATIONALE
Chapter
THE PALAIS MONDIAL
Early in 1920, Otlet decided that the period from the 5th
to the 20th of September would be designated an international
Fortnight* or «Quinzaine Internationale*. It would
be an occasion for meetings and conferences and would see,
he hoped, the beginning of a new lease of life for the
organisations in which he was interested. A Conference
formally to constitute the International University, his newest
venture, was to meet on the afternoon of the 6th of September,
although Sessions of the University were to take place
during the whole fortnight. A conference for bibliography
would be held from the 7th to the 10th of September and
that of the Union of International Associations, culminating
those for bibliography and the university, would follow from
the 13th to the 15th. Meetings of the associations themselves
and of other bodies, would be scheduled as necessary. The
Quinzaine Internationale, he believed, could become an important,
regular international «event» with the Palais Mondial
and the UIA at its center.
The most important work of the proposed Conference of
Bibliography in Otlet's view, was to be the study of the idea
of transforming the OIB—IIB into an International Union for
Bibliography and Documentation, an idea adopted in principle
by the International Research Council when it was set up in
1919. As an International Union it would have the States as
official signatories to its convention and would at once be
eligible for management by and support from the League under
the terms of Article 24 of its Covenant. As Otlet saw it,
however, the Union for Bibliography and Documentation
should have two kinds of membership, one official,, one free.
It should rest
on the one hand, on National Councils of Bibliography which would
bring together all the interests of one country; and on the other hand,
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