This paper presents the techniques and propositions, theoretical and practical, developed by Paul Otlet for retrieval and dissemination of documents. It analyzes the documentary method by which the information was extracted from documents and made available, and the concept of the repertory, conceived to dispose and expose information in a manner synthetic, current and accessible through the Documentary Encyclopedia. It emphasizes the importance of underlying ideas in Otlet's project, pointing particularly to their manifestation in the metaphors he adopted and in his internationalist worldview, which nourished the formation of his ideas.
Paul Otlet; Documentation; Monographic principle; Classification; Documentary encyclopedia; Internationalism