Paul Otlet (1868-1944) was a Belgian and a pioneer of the study of information. The father of modern documentation
http://boxesandarrows.com/forgotten-forefather-paul-otlet/
See http://archives.mundaneum.org/en/history 1868 entry for more information.
One of the founders of the Mundaneum (http://www.mundaneum.org/) now located in Mons, Belgium.
See also HyperTextHistory