Conceptual Origins and Early Automation
While the sources do not detail the mechanical origins of computing, they highlight a fascinating early connection between library work and automated data processing. The process of automation in society is said to have been initiated by a librarian, Dr. John Shaw Billing, who was the librarian of the Surgeon-General’s Library (now the U.S. National Library of Medicine). He suggested the idea for punched card machinery to Herman Hollerith, who then invented the technology. Hollerith’s company later became the International Business Machines (IBM) Corporation.
This pre-computer era of automation began in the 1930s, with punched card equipment being implemented for library circulation and acquisition tasks. Another key conceptual origin point mentioned is Vannevar Bush’s "Memex" concept from 1945, which envisioned a device for storing and retrieving vast amounts of information and is seen as a precursor to the idea of digital libraries.
The Computer Era and the Rise of the Information Society
The arrival of general-purpose computers in the 1960s marked a significant shift. This period saw the transition from an industrial to a post-industrial or "information society," a process in which the computer played a crucial role. The introduction of computer technology, the rise of scientific and technical professional groups, and the increasing part played by science in production were all evidence of a new "axial principle" at the core of the socio-economic system: the centrality of theoretical knowledge.
Modern management began to be characterized by a scientific approach, heavily utilizing electronic computers for analysis and the development of Management Information Systems (MIS) for planning, decision-making, and forecasting.
Evolution of Computer Applications in Libraries
The sources provide a detailed history of how computer technology was adopted and evolved within libraries, a process categorized into distinct eras or "ages".
- 1960s (Stand-alone Era): This decade was characterized by offline computerization. A key milestone was in 1961, when H.P. Luhn used a computer to produce the Keyword-In-Context (KWIC) index for articles in Chemical Abstracts. Also in 1961, the MEDLARS (Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System) project was initiated to apply computers to large-scale information retrieval systems.
- 1970s (Online Era): The 1970s saw the emergence of online systems. The first major online dial-up service was MEDLINE, the successor to MEDLARS. This was followed by commercial online search services like DIALOG and SDC. OCLC (Online Computer Library Center) was established in 1971 to facilitate library cooperation and reduce processing costs through shared, computerized cataloguing. During this decade, minicomputers were introduced to automate circulation, and books began to be bar-coded.
- 1980s (Micro-computer Era): This period was marked by the advent of microcomputers (PCs), CD-ROM technology, and Local Area Networks (LANs). This led to a significant shift away from large mainframes toward the client-server model, which consisted of personal computers for users connected to shared file servers.
- 1990s (Web Era): The Internet revolution of the 1990s, driven by the development of the World Wide Web (WWW) by Sir Tim Berners-Lee in 1989, transformed computer use. This led to Web-enabled integrated library systems that could support access and operations from anywhere at any time. The first tool for searching the Internet, Archie, was created in 1990.
- 2000s (Open Era): This most recent era is characterized by the emergence of open library systems powered by open-source software, open standards, and the integration of library data with external open data and content.
The Convergence of Technologies
The historical development of computing is also a story of technology convergence, particularly between computers and communications. The origin of this convergence can be traced to the mid-1950s with the need for remote computing. Because early mainframe computers were expensive and few in number, Remote Job Entry (RJE) terminals were developed to allow users to access them from distant locations via communication lines. This evolved into interactive computing and eventually into computer networks, with ARPANET in the 1960s being a pioneering network for sharing data and processing time.
This convergence and the subsequent development of the Internet have been accompanied by continuous advancements in hardware technology, such as the dramatic increase in the capacity of RAM and hard disks over the last decade. The modern computer system is based on the Von Neumann architecture, consisting of a Central Processing Unit (CPU) with a Control Unit and an Arithmetic Logic Unit (ALU), memory, and input/output systems.