The Universal Bibliographic Repertory of the Mundaneum

Mundaneum

An archive centre and exhibition space, the Mundaneum in Mons houses all the knowledge of the world.

The Mundaneum, nicknamed the 'Paper Google' by the newspaper Le Monde, is an exceptional archive center where 12 million bibliographic cards are cataloged. Since 2013, the Mundaneum has been listed in the UNESCO 'Memory of the World' register and also holds the 'European Heritage' label

Unesco Heritage

The Universal Bibliographic Repertory is registered in Unesco’s "Memory of the World" program, whose mission is to facilitate the preservation of the world’s documentary heritage using the most suitable techniques, to help ensure universal access to it, and to raise awareness worldwide of the existence and importance of documentary heritage.

More Knowledge for More Wisdom

Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine will forever be among the Great Minds of the 20th century. These two Belgian jurists, passionate about bibliography and imbued with humanist values, had the bold idea of indexing the world's knowledge to promote the spread of information. According to them, access to knowledge is what will save humanity from its inclination to fight. In 1895, Otlet and La Fontaine invented the Universal Decimal Classification, a coded system for organizing all kinds of documents, along with a Universal Bibliographic Repertory containing bibliographic records ordered according to their classification. This revolutionary system for its time is still used today in libraries across 130 countries! Thus, a century ago, Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine designed the first paper search engine in history in Belgium. The ancestor of Google was born.

In 2016, European Heritage Label

The sites awarded the "European Heritage Label" serve as milestones of today's Europe. The network of individuals and institutions established by Paul Otlet and Henri La Fontaine contributed to exchanges and the development of new partnerships in favor of intercultural dialogue on a European and global scale. Thanks to this label, awarded in 2016, the Mundaneum is recognized as a historical symbol of peace through culture in Europe.