Brief History of Library Automation: 1930-1996
An automated library is one where a computer system is used to manage one or several of the library's key functions such as acquisitions, serials control, cataloging, circulation and the public access catalog. When exploring the history of library automation, it is possible to return to past centuries when visionaries well before the computer age created devices to assist with their book lending systems. Even as far back as 1588, the invention of the
French "Book Wheel" allowed scholars to rotate between books by stepping on a pedal that turned a book table. Another interesting example was the "Book
Indicator", developed by Albert Cotgreave in 1863. It housed miniature books to represent books in the library's collection. The miniature books were part of a design that made it possible to determine if a book was in, out or overdue.
These and many more examples of early ingenuity in library systems exist, however, this paper will focus on the more recent computer automation beginning in the early twentieth century.
The Beginnings of Library Automation: 1930-1960
It could be said that library automation development began in the 1930's when punch card equipment was implemented for use in library circulation and acquisitions. During the 30's and early 40's progress on computer systems was slow which is not surprising, given the Depression and World War II. In 1945,
Vannevar Bush envisioned an automated system that would store information, including books, personal records and articles. Bush(1945) wrote about a hypothetical "memex" system which he described as a mechanical library that would allow a user to view stored information from several different access points and look at several items simultaneously. His ideas are well known as the basis for hypertext and mputers for their operations. The first appeared at MIT, in 1957, with the development of COMIT, managing linguistic computations, natural language and the ability to search for a particular string of information. Librarians then moved beyond a vision or idea for the use of computers, given the technology, they were able make great advances in the use of computers for library systems. This lead to an explosion of library automation in the 60's and 70's.
Library Automation Officially is Underway: 1960-1980
The advancement of technology lead to increases in the use of computers in libraries. In 1961, a significant invention by both Robert Noyce of Intel and
Jack Kirby of Texas Instruments, working independently, was the integrated circuit. All the components of an electronic circuit were placed onto a single
"chip" of silicon. This invention of the integrated circuit and newly developed disk and tape storage devices gave computers the speed, storage and ability
Books today are everywhere. We find them in many households, libraries and schools all around the globe. We find many different types of books; from stories to educational textbooks, we regard them today as sources of knowledge and amusement. But it wasn’t the case before 1455. That year, one of the greatest inventions in human history was revealed to the world; Gutenberg’s printing press. This press allowed printing in massive quantity, spreading books all around Europe and the rest of the world at a fast rate. The printing press had many positive consequences on society. At first, it standardized grammar and spelling, and then introduced the mass production of books. It finally inspired future printing technologies around the world.
Who can resist a book with a chapter titled, "Labia Lumps, Chunky Discharge, and Other Things They Never Taught Me in Library School"? Released this past summer, Revolting Librarians Redux: Radical Librarians Speak Out takes no prisoners as its contributors ponder everything from the backtracking of '60s values by ALA's baby boomers to librarian imagery in erotica. This edited volume is a sequel to a 1972 self-published book titled Revolting Librarians. The original is worth checking out for its historical value alone. The editors of the 2003 volume, Katia Roberto and Jessamyn West gathered essays from ten of the original writers from the 1972 book for this version and it is interesting to see what thirty years has done to these radical librarians.
A few decades ago, the dream of nearly every American was to one day own a car. In present age, this dream has become a reality for the majority of the population. A 2001 report released by the Energy Information Administration showed that on average America alone has approximately 1.79 cars per household ("Household vehicles energy," 2005).With all of the luxuries and technologies that are made available for Americans, the United States has proven that they are one of the most advanced nations in the world. Now ask yourself: What would America be like without the advanced technology that it has today? Culture and life would be much more different and complicated for nearly every human being. In addition, some of today’s most important jobs wouldn‘t exist. Obviously, at one point in history this was the case and construction of every sort was carried out with hand tools and nothing else. This all changed during the Industrial Age when human-operated machines helped replace the handwork of craftspeople. Today this is known as mechanization. It was not until the nineteenth century that Americans took it a step further and automation was born. Automation is automatic operation and control of machinery that can carry out decisions without human intervention (Plotkin, 2009). As it is to expect, automation has its conveniences and its downfalls. This form of manufacturing can result in employment problems for society because human labor is not required. However, with the replacement of human workers by technology, higher quality products can be made at a cheaper cost ("Automation," 2010). Therefore, when balancing the positive and negative factors of automation, it is clear to see that it has a beneficial impact on American society.
The Library of Virginia's Digital Library Program The Library of Virginia's Digital Library Program (DLP) is an internationally recognized effort to preserve, digitize, and provide access to significant archival and library collections. The DLP transfers rare and unique Virginia materials into an integrated, user-friendly electronic research environment. Since its inception in 1995, the Program has digitized more than 2.2 million original documents, photographs, and maps, and produced more than 80 fully-searchable databases, indexes, and electronic finding aids. General Library, Special Collections & Archive Catalogs Virginia History and Culture (NEW) Virginia Historical Inventory Court Records - Indexes and Guides
The King County Library System is the fifth largest library system in circulation in the United States. The current director of the KCLS, Bill Ptacek, started with the organization three years ago and is in the process of working towards a new strategic plan titled "The Year 2000 Plan, which has a long-term goal of integrating all the resources of the library system equally and to coordinate all the efforts to ensure it was providing the best possible service to the community. In the three years, Ptacek worked to expand the mission to cover services for the community to include children, life-long learning, career development, and literacy (Chell, 1996, pg.2). The reworking of the mission and services of KCLS was in full swing, but there were
Machine learning and automation has played a large role in the ever changing labor market with new industries gaining momentum and old industries becoming obsolete. With the increasing amount of research and improvements in automation, feelings of anxiety and disdain towards automation have become normal for workers. Jobs are lost to machines due to the convenience and efficiency that machines offer, however, not all types of jobs are replaced. In a study done by a professor of economics at MIT, David Autor, the impact of automation has actually shown to complement labor by increasing the demand for other jobs that require the use of a computer (Autor). The common anxiety and fear of total job loss is a clear misconception;
my reading assignments and there was a lot of reading and information to take in to complete the
The Janesville Public Library, originally was constructed in 1964 to meet the needs of a growing community. The newly constructed 41,000-square-foot building, located at 316 S. Main Street, would cost nearly $8 million to complete. Don and Gerry Hedberg would donate in total $4.66 million, while the rest of the capital came from local businesses and taxpayers. Because of the generous donation from Don and Gerry, the library officially changed its name to the Hedberg Public Library (Hedberg Public Library).
These documents were kept in an organized manner in archives with labels that could identify each item. It could, therefore, give the archivist an easy time in tracing a document (Buchanan, 2012).
On 13rd of October, at 3:57p.m., I found a seat next to the ceiling window on the ground floor in the San Diego Public Library and started my observation. The whole floor is surrounded by the ceiling windows which allow the allow luminance of sunlight to shine deeply into the library. My location was facing both the children’s library and the area which serves a branch of CD and DVDs. On that day, the library was also holding a mini exhibition names as the “Guardian Spirit Sacred Sculpture from the Continent of African”. Even though there are three wooden bookshelfs displayed orderly between my location and the children library, I can still clearly observe my target who is located in the children library.
When I was in the library, I found a book about the history of book jackets. Although most of the information in the small book was unnecessary, I did learn some of the history behind book jackets. Although the people of today look at book covers to get some idea of the contents of the book, back in the eighteen hundreds books had jackets so that the pages would not get dusty or dirty. Some books had covers made of leather but usually these were books, like the Bible, that needed protection. The bookseller put the jacket on before it was placed on the shelf. These dust jackets had no title or writing on them until the middle of the eighteen hundreds. It was not until almost nineteen hundred that authors or publishers designed book covers with illustrations or with the title. This is different from today because most authors give their book’s cover as their trade marks so they can be easily recognized. Usually the artist draws the cover to the author’s liking. The artist takes the words and changes them to an image suitable for the book.
Billeter begins her article highlighting the ways that reference has not changed. Some of the ways are people do not know how to ask questions, but they ask them because they need answers. They do not know that libraries provide free reference services not available elsewhere, but those who do know come with a wide range of expectations, knowledge, and understanding of information. (2010, p. 34)
With technology progressing from drones fulfilling shipments to electronic books becoming cheaper, major companies such as Apple and Amazon have had a big impact on not only the tech industry but the publishing industry as well. Companies are outputting resources like IBook’s and the Kindle bookstore to take full advantage of the transition to digital publishing. As a result of this we have greener, more budget friendly books, and outdated traditional copies of text. With the introduction to these resources it is making the lives of students and the mass market more convenient. Students are now able to purchase books on one device that won’t weigh their bags down on a daily basis. Companies have created bookstores that can be accessed from devices that we use every day, resulting in paperless copies of books that are substantially cheaper than the traditional hard copy. E-books are replacing physical books and textbooks rapidly, and as a result they are becoming more widely and readily available for students.
Today the technological world has developed and has continued to innovate to provide an easier lifestyle. This is the main focus of automation. Automation has gained more recognition from people in the business and industrial sectors. The purpose of this report is to discuss and inform the overview knowledge in the automation field. “Automation is the system of manufacture designed to extend the capacity of machines to perform certain tasks formerly done by humans, and to control sequences of operations without human intervention” (Funk & Wagnalls New World Encyclopedia, 2017, p. 1). Humans are capable of such incredible things and have improved throughout time even develop automated technology to do those tasks. Automation and the technology
How does a company make sure that only the eyes the document is intended for,