1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9911061855303321

Autore

Cevolini Alberto

Titolo

Indexing Systems : The Evolution of Knowledge Organisation in Modern Society / / by Alberto Cevolini

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Cham : , : Springer Nature Switzerland : , : Imprint : Palgrave Macmillan, , 2026

ISBN

3-032-13813-2

Edizione

[1st ed. 2026.]

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (236 pages)

Collana

Literature, Cultural and Media Studies

Disciplina

302.201

Soggetti

Communication - Methodology

Mass media

Multimedia systems

Media and Communication Methods

Media Sociology

Multimedia Information Systems

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Nota di contenuto

Chapter 1: Introduction -- Chapter 2: Indexing Systems as an Evolutionary Advance -- Chapter 3: The Organisation of Knowledge -- Chapter 4: The Cybernetic Library -- Chapter 5: The Relevance of Relevance -- Chapter 6: The Memory of Tags -- Chapter 7: De-Indexing -- Chapter 8: Conclusion.

Sommario/riassunto

This book analyses search engines as indexing systems: structures of social memory, designed to organise information access when knowledge is stored in archives. It views indexing systems as a highly improbable outcome of socio-cultural evolution, and charts the main stages of this social process through the impact of printing on knowledge organisation, the rise of mechanical memory, the practice of tagging, and contemporary strategies of de-indexing. In the process, the book sheds new light on the underexplored sociological question “Where do search engines come from?” Alberto Cevolini is Associate Professor at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy. His research focuses on sociological theory and intellectual history, with particular attention to social system theory, the development of note-



taking practices, and the invention of filing cabinets in early modern Europe. He is the author of De arte excerpendi. Imparare a dimenticare nella prima modernità (Florence, 2006) and editor of Forgetting Machines. Knowledge Management Evolution in Early Modern Europe (Leiden and Boston, 2016). He also edited the English translation of Thomas Harrison’s Ark of Studies (Turnhout, 2017).