L'Encyclopédie méthodique et l'organisation des connaissances - article ; n°1 ; vol.12, pg 59-70

Recherches sur Diderot et sur l'Encyclopédie - Année 1992 - Volume 12 - Numéro 1 - Pages 59-70
Kathleen H. Doig: The Encyclopédie Méthodique and the Organization of Knowledge.
The alphabetical arrangement in the Paris Encyclopédie and been greatly criticized. In 1782 Charles-Joseph Panckoucke published the first parts of what was vaunted as a more logical encyclopedia since it consisted of subject dictionaries. Other innovations aimed at making information more accessible and coherent: more complete discipline nomenclatures would be provided, and various supplementary tools would help restore coherence to individual subjects and to the whole. Of these latter, many analytical and reading tables were produced, but the comprehensive Vocabulaire universel never appeared. Problems inherent in the methodical arrangement, such as the number of subject dictionaries to admit and the allocation of material among them, proved especially difficult to solve as the production of the encyclopedia stretched over 50 years.
12 pages
Source : Persée ; Ministère de la jeunesse, de l’éducation nationale et de la recherche, Direction de l’enseignement supérieur, Sous-direction des bibliothèques et de la documentation.