Editing Vannevar Bush (section)

=== Memex concept ===
Bush introduced the concept of the [[memex]] during the 1930s, which he imagined as a form of memory augmentation involving a [[microfilm]]-based "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."<ref name="As We May Think" /> He wanted the memex to emulate the way the brain links data by association rather than by indexes and traditional, hierarchical storage paradigms, and be easily accessed as "a future device for individual use ... a sort of mechanized private file and library" in the shape of a desk.<ref name="As We May Think" /> The memex was also intended as a tool to study the brain itself.<ref name="As We May Think" /> The structure of memex is considered a precursor to the World Wide Web.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Huhtamo |first1=Erkki |title=Media Archaeology: Approaches, Applications, and Implications |last2=Parikka |first2=Jussi |publisher=University of California Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-0-520-26273-7 |location=Berkeley, CA |pages=189 |language=en}}</ref>

[[File:Sistema hipertextual.jpg|thumb|Bush conceived the encyclopedia of the future as having a mesh of associative trails running through it, akin to [[hyperlinks]], stored in a [[memex]] system.]]

After thinking about the potential of augmented memory for several years, Bush set out his thoughts at length in "[[As We May Think]]", predicting that "wholly new forms of encyclopedias will appear, ready made with a mesh of associative trails running through them, ready to be dropped into the memex and there amplified".<ref name="As We May Think" /> "As We May Think" was published in the July 1945 issue of ''[[The Atlantic]]''. A few months later, [[Life (magazine)|''Life'' magazine]] published a condensed version of "As We May Think", accompanied by several illustrations showing the possible appearance of a memex machine and its companion devices.<ref>{{cite news |magazine=[[Life (magazine)|Life]] |date=September 10, 1945 |title=As We May Think |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uUkEAAAAMBAJ&q=As+We+May+Think |pages=112–124 |last=Bush |first=Vannevar |access-date=April 20, 2012}}</ref>

Shortly after "As We May Think" was originally published, [[Douglas Engelbart]] read it, and with Bush's visions in mind, commenced work that would later lead to the invention of the [[Mouse (computing)|mouse]].<ref name="Engelbart">{{cite web |url=http://www.dougengelbart.org/history/engelbart.html |title=A Lifetime Pursuit |access-date=April 25, 2012 |publisher=Doug Engelbart Institute}}</ref> [[Ted Nelson]], who coined the terms "[[hypertext]]" and "[[hypermedia]]", was also greatly influenced by Bush's essay.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dougengelbart.org/firsts/hypertext.html |title=Hypertext |access-date=April 25, 2012 |publisher=Doug Engelbart Institute}}</ref>{{sfn|Crawford|1996|p=671}}

"As We May Think" has turned out to be a visionary and influential essay.{{sfn|Buckland|1992|p=284}} In their introduction to a paper discussing information literacy as a discipline, Bill Johnston and Sheila Webber wrote in 2005 that:
{{blockquote|Bush's paper might be regarded as describing a microcosm of  the information society, with the boundaries tightly drawn by the interests and experiences of a major scientist of the time, rather than the more open knowledge spaces of the 21st&nbsp;century. Bush provides a core vision of the importance of information to industrial / scientific society, using the image of an "information explosion" arising from the unprecedented demands on scientific production and technological application of World War&nbsp;II. He outlines a version of information science as a key discipline within the practice of scientific and technical knowledge domains. His view encompasses the problems of information overload and the need to devise efficient mechanisms to control and channel information for use.{{sfn|Johnston|Webber|2006|p=109}} }}

Bush was concerned that [[information overload]] might inhibit the research efforts of scientists. Looking to the future, he predicted a time when "there is a growing mountain of research. But there is increased evidence that we are being bogged down today as specialization extends. The investigator is staggered by the findings and conclusions of thousands of other workers."<ref name="As We May Think" />