THE UNIVERSE OF INFORMATION.pdf - ideals

on international sections placed under the control of the International
Associations — a central institute (JIB) would establish the necessary
links between them and would provide a central location for the deposit
of their collections. It would act as an International Bureau
and would be attached to the League of Nations by virtue of Article
24 of the Paris Pact. 1
In the invitation to the Conference, therefore, Otlet posed four
questions to be considered by those interested:
H. In principle are you of the opinion that there is a need to establish
an international union... In the affirmative, what amendmentswould
you propose in the draft [statutes] prepared?
2. Are you prepared to co-operate with the union and in which of
its sections?
3. Will you agree to take part in the September conference?
4. Are you prepared to undertake with other interested persons front
your country the task of setting up a national council and of stimulating
its immediate provisional formation in order to ensure unified 1
representation of your country at the next conference. 2
During this period of preparation for the conferences of
the Quinzaine Internationale, Otlet probably worked hardest
for the International University which he hoped to establish:
at that time. The idea had been germinating slowly in his
mind for a long time. La Fontaine had suggested it in 1894.
It had been discussed at the 1913 World Congress of the-
UIA, 3 and Otlet had raised the possibility again in Les
Problemes internationaux et la guerre} Now he judged that
the time was ripe and in February 1920 published a full-scale
study of the University. He addressed his study to «the Universities
of the World, to the International Associations and
to the League of Nations», each one of which was to have
a carefully prescribed role to play in the creation and support
of the University. As Otlet envisaged it, the University would
«act as a great international teaching center, a center for
research into comparative education. International organisations
concerned with education would find it advantageous to^
group themselves around it.» 5 He proposed that the University
should be established under the 1919 Belgian law according"
legal identity to international associations set up in Belgium,
and should also be protected by Article 24 of the League of
Nations' Covenant.
The program of the University, as he saw it, should
fall into two parts. The first would be specific and would deal
with the War, the League and the Paris Peace Pact. The
second would be more general and would embrace all matters
of international import. Revealing yet again the bent of his
early studies and aspirations, he observed that the University
should encourage «systematic collaboration towards synthesisand
the encyclopedia of the sciences — their history, the
improvement of their methods, the exposition of their problems-
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