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The memory palace, also known as the Method of loci or memory walk is a technique for remembering things. Basically you start by memorizing the physical layout of a place such as your own home. When you need to remember something, in your mind you put it somewhere in that place. To recall the thing, you look in the place. The trick apparently works well for things like memorizing lists. It was known by the Ancient Romans. It relies on the fact that we have fairly good spatial memory.

Many of the metaphors used around the Web reflect a spatial model: Netscape Navigator, Internet Explorer, the Information Superhighway. We do seem to be predisposed to think in this way: when talking about mathematical structures, the structure is conceptually a kind of map, comparable to the way we make maps of the physical world. With information retrieval on the Web it's quite hard not to think in terms of a library, not far removed from a physical library with books on shelves. Not to mention Files, Folders and Desktops.

So anyhow, the other day I was pondering whether there was something more around the memory palace idea that could be applied on the Web. Instead of putting a piece of information in a place in the mental model, HTTP PUT it in a place on the Web. I didn't get much further with this line of thought, you need the mental model of a familiar place to start. But another metaphor did occur to me.

What have the Romans ever done for us?

Well, the invention of concrete is usually attributed to them. It "...freed Roman construction from the restrictions of stone and brick material and allowed for revolutionary new designs in terms of both structural complexity and dimension.". Concrete clearly has had a role in the development of the modern city. There's a watchable old TED talk from Steve Johnson on the Web as a City. Concrete is made from aggregate, cement and water, not such a bad analogy to HTML marked-up text. You can mould it into whatever form you like. But what's lacking there is something corresponding to links.

So...how about reinforced concrete? Concrete on its own is good under compression but not extension, it needs something to tie it together if you want to make really big structures. The answer is to embed steel bars in it. Links as rebar, ok.

While this metaphor is a bit limited regarding the flexibility of the Web, it isn't bad for explaining the role of links to bind everything together. Given that links are data, the metaphor isn't bad at explaining how Web of Data relates to the Web of Documents. One is made of steel the other, concrete. Together they make a composite or hybrid material with properties that are greater than their sum of parts.

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