THE UNIVERSE OF INFORMATION.pdf - ideals

in a single place was splendid in 1895», but one must recognise
«that there has been a progression of ideas and to-day
federation replaces the local individualism* of other times. Moreover,
the information service at the Palais Mondial based on
the centralised RBU continued to leave a great deal to be
desired. So bad had it become, they felt obliged to point out
that «there is considerable general dissatisfaction about the
replies received (or not received) when written requests for
documentation are made to the Palais Mondial». They concluded
that it was «undesirable that the Institute should encourage
the use of this center». Nor would they include in their
report vague and elevated expressions about the role and success
of the Institute as Otlet had desired. «Up till now wehave
not observed that real enthusiasm with which the 'whole
world' has greeted the great idea of organising international
co-operation for documentation.» The opposite was the case, in
fact. «The Institute is regarded with great reserve throughout
the whole world. That is why it is necessary to give a clear
and objective account of the state of the institution without
exaggeration or lies». It was because of the «cold accounts
they believed, provided by Pollard and Donker Duyvis that ties
with the League Committee of Library Experts had been
established in 1930. 82
When Otlet read these comments, he wrote to Alingh
Prins that neither he nor La Fontaine would sign the report.
«We believe», he said, «that the RBU and the International
Center equipped for common collections and services constitute
an essential part of the whole work». Otlet reminded his
Dutch colleague that some time earlier he had asked Donker
Duyvic «clearly and frankly» when the latter was on one of
his visits to Brussels «do you or don't you want our whole
program? He replied Yes and that is why until now
we have not sought public explanations». 83 The Dutch
replied placatingly. The differences, they believed, that had
occurred between them and the Belgians arose only «when it
becomes a matter of the execution* of the whole IID program
as laid down in the Statutes. They explained again their
view of what the RBU should be like:
In our opinion a localised Universal Bibliographic Repertory in a
single place has only a small value (practice proves this, moreover)
and we prefer a solution which is really universal and international:
the Federalised Universal Bibliographic Repertory. As far as the international
center is concerned, we are equally of the opinion that it
should limit itself to the work of co-ordination. 84
There matters rested until the end of November when
Alingh Prins wrote to Otlet and La Fontaine about translation
rights and royalties from the publication of the Universal Decimal
Classification about which there had been some earlier
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