Alsted was attempting with his Encyclopaedia to emulate the combination system of Ramon Llull as set out in Llull's 1308 Ars Magna, and thus to formulate a system of universal knowledge and a Llullian method for systematising the sciences. The scheme includes categorisations such as:
generic - specific;
peripheral - central;
internal - external;
communal - individual;
quantum ad locum - ad conditionem ad aetatem;
preparatorius - elaboratorius.
Alsted's approach influenced, among others, the pedagogueJohann Amos Comenius and the Hungarian encyclopedist Apáczai Csere János (1625–1659). Alsted's vision was that with the right methodologies of teaching and application, any person could have access to a perfect knowledge of all sciences.