Idea Collider: From a theory of knowledge organization to a theory of knowledge interaction

Editor's Summary A new and novel addition to core concepts of information science and technology is the Idea Collider, adapting the conceptual basis of the particle accelerator. The Idea Collider is presented as a theory of information and an information retrieval tool that deconstructs text to the underlying elements – the concepts, ideas, knowledge entities, taxons and knowledge bases – and then reconstitutes groupings of data. The authors champion the idea of a “multiverse of knowledge,” in contrast to the “universe of knowledge” that is an important metaphor in traditional classification theory. A historical review of outstanding theoretical landmarks in classification theory explores the universe of knowledge metaphor, faceted classification theory and the universe of concepts, moving from a holistic view of existing knowledge to an elemental deconstruction that can account for all knowledge, past and future. The Idea Collider is proposed as a theoretical approach to identifying the essential parts of knowledge, dissociating those elements from culture‐ and time‐bound dimensions and making them available for a bottom‐up reassembly process.