author
International Institute of Bibliography
Created in Brussels in 1895, this pioneering institute aimed to gather and organize the world’s recorded knowledge long before the digital age. It became best known as the starting point for the Universal Decimal Classification and for the ambitious documentation work of Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine.
1 Audiobook
Decimal Classification. Tables générales
by International Institute of Bibliography
About the author
Founded on September 12, 1895, in Brussels as the Institut International de Bibliographie (IIB), the organization was established by the Belgian lawyers Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine. Their goal was bold and practical at the same time: to build better systems for collecting, classifying, and sharing information across borders.
One of its most lasting achievements was the development and publication of the Universal Decimal Classification, an expanded and more flexible classification system for organizing publications and knowledge. The institute was often known as the Brussels Institute, and over time its name changed as the field evolved—from the International Institute for Documentation to the International Federation for Documentation, and later the International Federation for Information and Documentation.
Its wider legacy is its early vision of universal access to knowledge. Even though the organization itself was eventually dissolved in 2002, it remains an important landmark in the history of bibliography, documentation, and information science.