A literary invention of
Vannevar Bush in a famous and engaging article
As We May Think (July 1945), an inspiration for
hypertext pioneers.
A memex is "a device in which an individual stores all his books, records, and communications, and which is mechanized so that it may be consulted with exceeding speed and flexibility."
"Wholly new forms of encyclopedias will appear, ready made with a mesh of associative trails running through them, ready to be dropped into the memex and there amplified."