International Institute of Bibliography

International Institute of Bibliography 

(Institut International de Bibliographic), founded in 1895 in Brussels by the lawyers and bibliographers P. Otlet and H. Lafontaine.

The institute aimed to create, through international cooperation, the Universal Bibliographic Repertory; a card catalog was compiled, containing more than 16 million cards. Branches were organized in Switzerland, France, Germany, and other countries. The institute’s works were published in the Bulletin de I’nstitut international de bibliographic (1895-1914). The institute did not function between 1914 and 1920. Because of the institute’s expanding activity in the field of documentation, it was renamed the International Institute for Documentation in 1931, with its headquarters in The Hague. In 1938 the institute was reorganized as the International Federation for Documentation (Federation Internationale de Documentation).

P. K. KOLMAKOV