LIBRARY INFORMATION PROCESSING USING AN ON-LINE, REAL-TIME COMPUTER SYSTEM

DIRECT MAN-MACHINE COMMUNICATION IS NOW POSSIBLE THROUGH ON-LINE, REAL-TIME TYPEWRITER TERMINALS DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO COMPUTERS. THESE TERMINAL SYSTEMS PERMIT THE OPERATOR, WHETHER ORDER CLERK, CATALOGER, REFERENCE LIBRARIAN OR TYPIST, TO INTERACT WITH THE COMPUTER IN MANIPULATING DATA STORED WITHIN IT. THE IBM ADMINISTRATIVE TERMINAL SYSTEM (ATS) IS ONE OF THE SYSTEMS WHICH CAN BE USED WITH A RELATIVELY SMALL COMPUTER TO PERFORM LIBRARY PROCESSING SERVICES FOR A MULTILIBRARY SYSTEM IN A SCIENTIFIC-TECHNICAL ENVIRONMENT, AS HAS BEEN DEMONSTRATED AT IBM'S SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT LIBRARY. IN THIS LIBRARY INFORMATION IS ENTERED ONCE AT THE TIME OF ORDERING OR WHEN THE INFORMATION IS FOUND IN A BIBLIOGRAPHIC SOURCE AND THEN USED FOR ACQUIRING AND CATALOGING THE ITEM AS WELL AS FOR PRODUCING THE REQUIRED CIRCULATION CONTROL CARDS. OTHER PRODUCTS OF THE SYSTEM INCLUDE BOOK ORDERS, AN ACCUMULATIVE ORDER LIST (KEPT ONLY IN COMPUTER STORAGE), A CATALOGING WORKSHEET FOR EACH ITEM ORDERED, THREE BY FIVE UNIT RECORD CARDS, AN INDEX OF CATALOGED ITEMS, AND A LIBRARY ANNOUNCEMENT BULLETIN. ATS IS ALSO USED WITHIN THE LIBRARY FOR ABSTRACT AND TEXT WRITING AND EDITING, COMMUNICATIONS, AND STATISTICAL RECORD KEEPING. FOR ALL OF THESE APPLICATIONS, NO SPECIAL PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN WRITTEN. INSTEAD THE PROGRAM DEVELOPED FOR THE SYSTEM HAS BEEN USED SINCE IT HAS SUFFICIENT FLEXIBILITY. APPENDIX A IS THE LIBRARY PROCESSING FLOWCHARTS FOR THE SYSTEM AND APPENDIX B OUTLINES THE DATA FORMAT USED IN THE SYSTEM. THIS DOCUMENT IS ALSO AVAILABLE FREE FROM INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION, SYSTEMS DEVELOPMENT DIVISION, BOX 390, DEPARTMENT A08, BUILDING 851, POUGHKEEPSIE, NEW YORK 12601 OR THE NEAREST IBM DATA PROCESSING DIVISION BRANCH OFFICE. (AUTHOR/CM)