Vannevar Bush, 1945 If scientific reasoning were limited to the logical processes of arithmetic, we should not get very far in our understanding of the physical world. One might as well attempt to grasp the game of poker entirely by the use of the mathematics of probability.

THE GLOBAL TRAIN OF KNOWLEDGE “[Science] has provided a record of ideas and enabled man to manipulate and make extracts of that record so that knowledge evolves and endures through the life of a race rather than that of an individual” Vannevar Bush

The Abundance Problem “The investigator is staggered by the findings and conclusions of thousands of other workers…” Vannevar Bush No more generalists, no more Jeffersons

Trails “TrailBlazers” sift through information, creating associations and “trails”

Selection by Association Not category browsing Not really keyword search either Hyperlinks are one way, but created –by author –at time of publication Need capability of following associations –created by any author –any time

Creating Associations Section I Section II Section III … Document Margin TFIDF Sections and send to search engine Let reader annotate margins. Let reader add links Links to other web pages, books, people,…

Ted Nelson and Xanadu

Stop Imitating Paper “For over two decades we have imitated paper on screens. What we really need is the opposite– to represent digitally the literary forms of connection which could not be represented before” THN

“The real work of writing is rewriting” THN

Axe the File Bin Model “We sought to reduce the influence of hierarchical directories and conventional files (which we see as large lumps with stuck names in fixed places, with compulsory gratuitous naming unsuited to overlap, interpenetration, rich connectivity, reasonable backtracking, and most human thinking and creative work).

The Web Sucks “Trivialized” the Xanadu model One-way links to some folder on some server. No recognition of change No recognition of copyright No support for multiple versions or principled reuse.

The Model Document Content Document Universal Address Space Similar to Hollywood’s edit decision lists

Keys of Xanadu Model Links do not break as versions change Documents may be compared side-by- side and annotated Possible to see the origins of every quotation. Valid copyright system for frictionless, non-negotiated quotation at any time and in any amount.

“The central proprietary secret this all relied on -- which we considered whimsically obvious but never stated publicly-- was the freezing of content addresses into permanent universal IDs” THN

Efforts toward survivable Links DOI – Internet Archive