As Long As Scientists Are Free To

Publication Has Been Extended Far Beyond Our Present Ability To Make Real Use Of The Record.

Consider A Future Device For Individual Use, Which Is A Sort Of Mechanized Private File And Library. It Needs A Name, And, To Coin One At Random, "memex" Will Do. A Memex Is A Device In Which An Individual Stores All His Books, Records, And Communications, And Which Is Mechanized So That It May Be Consulted With Exceeding Speed And Flexibility. It Is An Enlarged Intimate Supplement To His Memory.

A Record, If It Is To Be Useful To Science, Must Be Continuously Extended, It Must Be Stored, And Above All It Must Be Consulted.

The Difficulty Seems To Be, Not So Much That We Publish Unduly In View Of The Extent And Variety Of Present Day Interests, But Rather That Publication Has Been Extended Far Beyond Our Present Ability To Make Real Use Of The Record.

Science Can Give Mankind A Better Standard Of Living, Better Health And A Better Mental Life, If Mankind In Turn Gives Science The Sympathy And Support So Essential To Its Progress.