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Decades before the Internet, two Belgians built a giant international documentation centre called Mundaneum. This vast database of 3-by-5 inch index cards eventually contained 16 million entries, covering everything from the history of hunting dogs to finance, and allowed anyone in the world to submit a query via mail or telegraph. The goal of the Mundaneum's founders was to preserve peace by assembling knowledge and making it accessible to the entire world.

Sound familiar? It does to us, too, which is why we're helping to revive the memory of the Mundaneum and its creators through a partnership with the Mundaneum and the University of Ghent. Read more on our blog:﻿
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Thank-you to Google. Please try to maintain this mantra even as corporate interests begin to consume all decisions...﻿
I love this!
I want to read the Mundaneum...
P.S. add the word to Google+ spell checker.﻿
The other half of that coin was shortwave radio.I knew of this around the time of the Apollo landings.It was heady time,waiting on transporters and flying cars,which we knew were less than a lifetime away.But,the serpent showed up again.﻿
this video feels me times..........I dislike a library card. -;))﻿
Did they think of including an advertisement when they sent you back their response to fund the Mundaneum?﻿
Amazing ..
0_0! how long does it take to build that.﻿
Copy & Save to Google Books! since they are cards, there should be a way to do it using a machine.﻿
ya and ppl need to stop wrecking our environment﻿
+Rob Minnaert that's not what's being said at all... Belgians invented a way of storing massive amounts of data, indexed it and made it available. So simply a database.

Plus dont you know? Al gore invented the internet ;-)﻿
no i didnt know that thx lol and we need the trees anyways﻿
Maybe we would have run out of trees. Maybe. It's the same idea as Wikipedia, Google and any number of other "modern" notions to make information universal, and it doesn't require a power grid to keep it functional. A cross referenced Library of Alexandria...

Truly genius, and interesting proof that there really isn't anything new under the sun.﻿
So Wikipedia existed in index cards before it existed on-line? Cool!﻿
that's why my ideas focus on going beyond the reaches of our little tiny yellow ball of fire.. :D﻿
ya plus insted of paying hydro we should use solar panals﻿
ya so we should use wat we know :) and make it into an advantage﻿
What??? I'm from Ghent and never heard about this! way cool﻿
The all seeing eye reference right at the moment when the text mentions world peace is indeed a bit creepy if you're familiar with conspiracy theories, illuminati / New World Order related ??? Who knows :) Still brilliant & visionary work!﻿
Useful information on the origin of intenet﻿
+Alex Emelianov totally reminded me of the same thing, I was just going to try to find that link.
Also: "Mundaneum" in English sounds like a name for a deliberately boring museum (even though I know munda/mundane/mundo refers to "world" in this context)﻿
Interesting music choice. Prokofiev FTW! (Though, not really sure what Romeo and Juliet: Dance of the Knights has to do with databases -- but it's a great musical work just the same ;-)﻿
Anyone old enough to have seen "Desk Set" with Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracey? Check it out.﻿
Stunning! Very forward thinking - before the phrase was even coined I suspect.﻿
What's next? ﻿
I believe that would bring a great deal of PEACE!!! but unfortunately the fact everyone trying to make a buck it just doesn't seem plausible.
even when there something like that there the free vr & the Paid vr.﻿
I heard once that google at inception was to replace the dewey- decimal card catalog system in libraries. Anyone know if this is true?﻿
It will never work the very name mundane speaks of terrible drudgery. Lets make the info accessible and exciting by rebranding it the googleum. If you use my name do I get royaltys???﻿
so koolaid status (oh yea this sucks!!!)﻿
Why are people talking about the environment?﻿
Thus mundane-eum, a museum of the mundane, in a world more and more fascinated by minutia, the tiny details of our own existence... or more, those of others, ie entertainment periodicals and blogs, the fine focus of individual research and documentary, etc. I could go on and on, as does the mundane...﻿
Looks like Wikipedia live :-). Thanks to those Belgian bro's for the wonderful work﻿
This was the first step in uniting our world to hopefully put aside our differences and move forward together to explore beyond Earth's boundaries. SAdly, even with the Internet, too many people seek to take advantage of others instead of trying to work together for the greater good. We're all different but now we can at least communicate easily in real time compared to the days of the Mundaneum. You must salute their effort, however.﻿
decades before the internet!! daaaaaamn, that was like, the 70s dude!!﻿
Erk Lok labor! lol..﻿
dhit YD
Penggunaan kertas yang banyak secara otomatis pengurangan pohon di seluruh dunia secara merata.﻿
The greatest creation in the Internet Universe, is Google ( in my opinion), thanks God, now, we all, are closer than ever, the time and the distance are not longer a factor, anything can be viewed and heared in real time anywhere. I just wonder, when this perfect dream will be corrupted and controlled by the governments.... ﻿
google..u guys r d best..u r reviving history and timepieces﻿
yes.............. u r great....﻿
idont undersand but is good....﻿
its about the when Google streated.. dear﻿
This is cool. I want to go see it ... google you should start scanning the cards and digitising them, including them in search results under a seperate tab or something...just as a novelty and to preserve a piece of (cool) history which was technically the first google :)﻿
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