Files are and have always been relational objects
“The original ‘files’ were threads upon which documents were strung chronologically for preservation.” Yates, p. 7
There never has been a notion of a file existing without a relationship to other information.
References
Yates, JoAnne. “From Press Book and Pigeonhole to Vertical Filing: Revolution in Storage and Access Systems for Correspondence.” The Journal of Business Communication (1973), vol. 19, no. 3, July 1982, pp. 5–26. https://doi.org/10.1177/002194368201900301.
Notes mentioning this note
Vertical files
The vertical file, the basic technology of the modern day filing cabinet, was cutting-edge information technology of 1898. The world’s...