Knowledge Bases Down the years

Knowledge Bases Down the years

Here is a brief overview of knowledge bases throughout history:

• Library of Ashurbanipal (circa 7th century BCE): Located in ancient Nineveh (modern-day Iraq), this was one of the earliest known libraries, containing a vast collection of cuneiform tablets on various subjects including literature, history, law, and science.

• Library of Alexandria (3rd century BCE to 3rd century CE): Established in ancient Alexandria, Egypt, this renowned library housed a vast collection of scrolls and texts from various civilizations. It served as a center for scholarship and learning in the ancient world.

• Encyclopedias of Antiquity (Various dates): Works such as Pliny the Elder's "Natural History" (1st century CE) and Isidore of Seville's "Etymologiae" (7th century CE) served as early attempts to compile knowledge from various fields into comprehensive encyclopaedic works.

• Medieval Monastic Libraries (5th to 15th century CE): Monasteries in medieval Europe were centres of learning, housing scriptoria where monks copied and preserved ancient texts. These libraries played a crucial role in preserving knowledge during the Middle Ages.

• Renaissance Humanist Libraries (14th to 17th century CE): During the Renaissance, wealthy patrons and scholars collected and curated extensive libraries, which became centres of humanist scholarship and the dissemination of classical knowledge.

• Encyclopédie (18th century): Edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert, the Encyclopédie was one of the first modern encyclopaedias, aiming to compile and systematize knowledge across various disciplines during the Enlightenment.

• Library of Congress Classification System (19th century): Developed in the 19th century, the Library of Congress Classification System is a widely used library classification system that organizes knowledge into specific subject areas for easier navigation and retrieval.

• Dewey Decimal Classification (19th century): Created by Melvil Dewey, this classification system revolutionized library organization by categorizing knowledge into ten main classes, each further subdivided for more detailed classification.

• Print Encyclopedias (19th to 20th century): Works like the Encyclopædia Britannica and the World Book Encyclopaedia served as comprehensive repositories of knowledge before the advent of digital technologies.

• Wikipedia (21st century): Launched in 2001, Wikipedia is a free, collaborative online encyclopaedia that allows users worldwide to create, edit, and update articles on a wide range of topics, making it one of the most extensive knowledge bases in human history.