The library before print and after the computer: The similarities between string search algorithms and mnemonic retrieval in pre-print libraries

It is a common assumption that digital technology stores and retrieves text differently than physical libraries do. Websites and digitized text uploaded on them are retrieved via algorithms, tied together by links, and so on, whereas physical libraries are structured by classification schemes, catalogs, and indexes. Nevertheless, looking further back in history, it can be argued that digital technology in fact makes us store and retrieve text as humanity did to begin with—before the invention of the printing press. This article argues how.