Indexing Systems

Name: Indexing Systems
Price: 261.21 AUD
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ISBN: 9783032138125

The Evolution of Knowledge Organisation in Modern Society

Alberto Cevolini

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Hardback

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English

Palgrave Macmillan
24 January 2026

Communication studies; Media studies; Sociology; Graphical & digital media applications

This book analyses search engines as indexing systems: structures of social memory, designed to organise information access when knowledge is stored in archives. It views indexing systems as a highly improbable outcome of socio-cultural evolution, and charts the main stages of this social process through the impact of printing on knowledge organisation, the rise of mechanical memory, the practice of tagging, and contemporary strategies of de-indexing. In the process, the book sheds new light on the underexplored sociological question “Where do search engines come from?”

By: Alberto Cevolini
Imprint: Palgrave Macmillan
Country of Publication: Switzerland
Dimensions: Height: 210mm, Width: 148mm,
ISBN: 9783032138125
ISBN 10: 3032138124
Pages: 220
Publication Date: 24 January 2026
Audience: College/higher education , Further / Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: Indexing Systems as an Evolutionary Advance.- Chapter 3: The Organisation of Knowledge.- Chapter 4: The Cybernetic Library.- Chapter 5: The Relevance of Relevance.- Chapter 6: The Memory of Tags.- Chapter 7: De-Indexing.- Chapter 8: Conclusion.

Alberto Cevolini is Associate Professor at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy. His research focuses on sociological theory and intellectual history, with particular attention to social system theory, the development of note-taking practices, and the invention of filing cabinets in early modern Europe. He is the author of De arte excerpendi. Imparare a dimenticare nella prima modernità (Florence, 2006) and editor of Forgetting Machines. Knowledge Management Evolution in Early Modern Europe (Leiden and Boston, 2016). He also edited the English translation of Thomas Harrison’s Ark of Studies (Turnhout, 2017).