Application of Microcomputers to Aerospace and Defence Scientific and Technical Information Work

摘要

The present lecture series is a lineal descendent of TIP LS 92, held in Delft and Ankara in 1978, on the application of low cost minicomputers to library work (1). The central theme was the new opportunity then offered in the automation of library and information services by cheaper, faster equipment, and the developing range of database and applications software products. Speakers were concerned with the feasibility of library automation; with the technical methodology of the necessary systems studies; with application of 'database' technology to library processes; and with cost effectiveness measured in units of tens of man-years of programming effort and equipment investments of $100,000 and more. The papers are still of value - perhaps the case studies in particular - as many of the problems identified with information quality and with project control during innovation are still with us. On the other hand, the practicality of computer application in libraries is now taken for granted, and the effectiveness of using database and other 'package' software to control costs and minimise development time scales is widely recognised.