From cataloguers to designers: Paul Otlet, social impact and a more proactive role for KO professionals

In the early 20th century, Paul Otlet carved out a role for bibliography and documentation as a force for positive social change. While his ideals appeared to be utopian to many of his contemporaries, his activism and vision foreshadowed the potential (for good and evil) of the World Wide Web. This paper discusses the role that KO professionals could play in enhancing the positive social impact of the web of knowledge, and how our roles are shifting from the more passive role of descriptive cataloguers, to proactive designers of positive and productive knowledge environments.