Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A proposed computer system, implemented with electromechanical controls and microfilm equipment, that would permit a researcher to follow and annotate topics of interest, analogous to later hypertext technologies.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Coined by Vannevar Bush from memory + index in his article As We May Think (1945) in The Atlantic Monthly.

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Examples

  • In the article Bush proposed what he called a memex – a system that in some ways anticipated the web.

    Memex 2007

  • A memex is a 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 …

    The Road to the Information Age 2008

  • A memex is a 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 …

    The Road to the Information Age 2008

  • A memex is a 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.

    Technology & Innovation 2006

  • A memex is a 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.

    Technology & Innovation 2006

  • A memex is a 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.

    As We May Think 1969

  • Only a small part of the interior of the memex is devoted to storage, the rest to mechanism.

    As We May Think 1969

  • A memex is a 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.

    As We May Think 1945

  • Only a small part of the interior of the memex is devoted to storage, the rest to mechanism.

    As We May Think 1945

  • Dr. Bush conceptualized a "private library," coined "memex" memory index in his essay, which could ingest the "mountain of research," and use associative indexing -- how we think -- to correlate trusted data to support human decision making.

    Steve Hamby: Top Three Technologies to Tame the Big Data Beast Steve Hamby 2011

  • Consider a future device for individual use, which is a sort of mechanized private file and library. It needs a name, and, to coin one at random, "memex" will do. A memex is a 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.

    As We May Think Vannevar Bush 2022

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