As We May Think

As Director of the Office of Scientific Researc

The real heart of the matter of selection, however, goes deeper than a lag in
the adoption of mechanisms by libraries, or a lack of development of devices for
their use. Our ineptitude in getting at the record is largely caused by the
artificiality of systems of indexing. When data of any sort are placed in
storage, they are filed alphabetically or numerically, and information is found
(when it is) by tracing it down from subclass to subclass. It can be in only one
place, unless duplicates are used; one has to have rules as to which path will
locate it, and the rules are cumbersome. Having found one item, moreover, one
has to emerge from the system and re-enter on a new path.

The human mind does not work that way. It operates by association. With one
item in its grasp, it snaps instantly to the next that is suggested by the
association of thoughts, in accordance with some intricate web of trails carried
by the cells of the brain. It has other characteristics, of course; trails that
are not frequently followed are prone to fade, items are not fully permanent,
memory is transitory. Yet the speed of action, the intricacy of trails, the
detail of mental pictures, is awe-inspiring beyond all else in nature.

The owner of the memex, let us say, is interested in the origin and
properties of the bow and arrow. Specifically he is studying why the short
Turkish bow was apparently superior to the English long bow in the skirmishes of
the Crusades. He has dozens of possibly pertinent books and articles in his
memex. First he runs through an encyclopedia, finds an interesting but sketchy
article, leaves it projected. Next, in a history, he finds another pertinent
item, and ties the two together. Thus he goes, building a trail of many items.
Occasionally he inserts a comment of his own, either linking it into the main
trail or joining it by a side trail to a particular item. When it becomes
evident that the elastic properties of available materials had a great deal to
do with the bow, he branches off on a side trail which takes him through
textbooks on elasticity and tables of physical constants. He inserts a page of
longhand analysis of his own. Thus he builds a trail of his interest through the
maze of materials available to him.