Last week I posted a link to a lovely info graphic on the history of information organization.
This week I spotted a website that could have provided some of the underlying data.
The site gives plenty of great facts discovered via beautiful category driven browse interfaces.
With annotated references to discoveries, developments of a social, scientific, and theoretical nature, and references to physical books and other documents, it arranges selected historical examples and recent developments of the methods used to record, distribute, exchange, organize, store, and search for information.
The site lists the first general subject index from 1548. All well and good but can it be imported into a SharePoint term set ;)
As someone who's worked mostly in the information management space its encouraging to think the profession has survived for a couple of thousand years already. Should be plenty of work to feed the kids for the next few years.
Now if only I can keep up with the pace of technology change...