A File Structure for the Complex, the Changing, and the Indeterminate

Theodor H. Nelson

   T.H. Nelson proposes the development of the Evolutionary List File (ELF), a file structure characterized by “the capacity for intricate and idiosyncratic arrangements, total modifiability, undecided alternatives, and thorough internal documentation” Built with a lot of zippered files the ELF would fulfill user needs for personal filing and manuscript assembly.  ELF specifications are “the ability to accept large and growing bodies of text and commentary “the ability to “file texts in any form and arrangement desired…under an unlimited number of categories, allowing “index manipulations” known as “dynamic indexing” and permitting evolutionary “dynamic outlining”.

   Nelson characterizes the ELF as an evolutionary file structure which can be shaped into various forms and changed from one arrangement to another in accordance with the user’s changing needs.  Nelson’s system contains three elements: entries, list, and links.  An entry is a unit of information such as text or pictures; a list is an ordered set of entries; and a link is a bridge between different entries in different list.  Nelson introduces the Personalized Retrieval, Indexing, and Documentation Evolutionary System (PRIDE) which is an information handling language that helps facilitate the ELF usage.