Library information system time-sharing on a large, general-purpose computer

Abstract

In the spring of 1967, several of us at System Development Corporation (SDC) undertook the development of LISTS (Library Information System Time-Sharing) a system that would allow library processing tasks to be performed on-line, utilizing general-purpose computer equipment. We believed that three developments in the field of computer technology had converged to the extent that it had become technically feasible to design such a system. These three developments included the development at SDC of sophisticated time-sharing and data-management systems, the advances being made by the Library of Congress and others in formatting large data bases for storage on magnetic tape, and the advent of third-generation computer equipment, which we believed could accommodate the large files that would be required. We believed that, together, these developments would make it possible for all types and sizes of libraries to use a large computer for their processing and housekeeping functions without changing their traditional patterns of operation or giving up the autonomy they now enjoy. More importantly, we believed that they could use such a computer without having to undertake their own system design and development efforts, procure programmers, or either acquire a computer for their own use or rent computer time from a service bureau.