kscans

Chapter 140 - An Introduction to Otherworld Information Organization 1. Cardboard and Cards (Part 1)

"Alright... I've taken care of most of the things that needed to be done early... I guess I'll start preparing the thick paper soon..."

He had managed to obtain paper in Laurenzen, but its quality was worse than he had imagined. The high-quality paper was of a decent quality, but the price was also decent, and it was not something he could use casually for scribbling notes. So Yuri had decided to use the more affordable mid-grade paper for the memo pads he carried around daily, and his own handmade paper for the portions he would copy neatly and store. Incidentally, the mid-grade paper he had purchased in Laurenzen was almost equivalent to what the father of his past self, Yuuri Isarai, had called straw paper. In contrast, Yuri's own handmade paper was equivalent to handmade washi. There was a big difference in quality.

The result of that quality difference becoming an issue was connected to the covers of his memo pads... but this probably requires a little explanation.

The handmade paper he had been using until now was basically of a manufacturing method and quality similar to washi, so even if he carried it in his breast pocket, the cover wouldn't get frayed. Well, he would use it all up before it had a chance to fray. However, the mid-grade paper he had purchased in the town of Laurenzen was much more fragile compared to his handmade paper. When he put it in his breast pocket as usual, the outermost paper tore early on. Thinking that this would cause various problems, the countermeasure Yuri took was to attach a thick paper cover.

"Well, it's simply a matter of making the paper thicker when I make it... but that increases the amount of pulp I use."

That being said, the amount used for a memo pad cover was insignificant. There was probably no need to worry that much. So Yuri thought, but something he remembered in association with the thick paper came to mind.

"If I made cards out of thick paper, would it be possible to build a database?"

As has been stated time and again, Yuri was a rare record-keeping fiend. It was his daily routine to take notes on things he noticed and thought of in his daily life, and to write them out neatly before going to bed. The data accumulated in this way had to be organized so that it could be used at any time, otherwise it was the same as mere dead stock. His past self, Yuuri, had accomplished this by utilizing database software, but there was no such convenient thing here in the world of Forea. Yuri had been secretly hoping for magic, but when he casually asked Adon and Kudol, it seemed that no such technology existed. So Yuri had half given up on building a database, but the thick paper reminded him of data cards, and there he remembered a certain item, an information organization technology that had already been forgotten in that other world of Earth.

"Edge Hole Card." It was something called a Hole-sort card in English.

It was a rectangular paper card with two rows of holes around its perimeter, with each hole assigned an appropriate search term. The edge of the hole for the search term corresponding to the written content was cut, leaving it in an open state, and stored. There was no particular need for classification or organization during storage. When searching for information, if you passed a rod through the hole of the relevant search term and shook it, only the cards with a notch, that is, the cards that hit on that search term, would fall. The fact that the cards were made of paper made them unavoidably prone to damage, and the fact that they were unsuitable for handling vast amounts of data, led to their disappearance with the development of database software. But for data handled by an individual, it was not that inconvenient, and what's more, for better or worse, it seemed unlikely that any other database system could be built with the current situation.

"My memory alone is unreliable, and what's more, if I don't organize the notes and such left by Master Bunza, all that precious data will be a wasted treasure."

Although he had not been taught directly, the various things left behind by the alchemist Bunza (deceased) of Chippo Village were extremely beneficial to Yuri. Whether or not he could make good use of the mountain of data could, without exaggeration, affect Yuri's future. Organizing that data was an extremely important matter.

"The problem is how to mass-produce cards of the same standard..."

Making cards of the same size was not that difficult as long as he had a wooden frame. Writing borders and ruled lines on the cards could also be managed using printmaking techniques. The remaining problem was to punch holes neatly at the exact same position around the perimeter of the card, but...

"...I never thought I'd use it for something like this... but I'm glad I bought it..."

In front of Yuri was a set of tools.