And historically there was the additional fear that the precious store of knowledge accumulating as the world grew in wisdom might be lost by natural or man-made disaster.
Hence the potent theme of knowledge rescued from near-oblivion, which runs through early modern discussions of how to store and retrieve information reliably.
During the next decade, knowledge management lived a modest life, supporting IT professionals wanting to sweep up all that data and store it, and management consultants trying to help companies turn complex processes into competitive advantage.