Parents of Invention

Foreword
Commonly Used Terms and Abbreviations
Acknowledgments
Interviews
Introduction
1. Origins of Magic
Era of Conceptualization
Era of Commercialization
Making Systems as Error Free as Possible
Advent of Bibliographic Utilities
Developing National Bibliographies
Programming Languages and ILS
Bibliographic Databases, Bibliographic Utilities, and Regional Library Consortia
2. Customers' Perspectives
A First Experience of Computing
User Manuals
Consortia Customers and Vendors
Burlington Public Library
A View from Australia
CLANN Goes Online
AUSMARC
Authority Files
MARC Records
Communication Lines
Incorporating Research Databases
AARNET and JANET
CD-ROM
The Customer and the ILS Vendor
3. At the Interface: Librarians and the Vendor Environment
Working Conditions
Being on the Road
Fair Warning at Hiring
Librarians as Trainers
Librarians as Project Managers
4. The Nature of the Vendors' Work
Age of Respondents
Education and Training of Respondents
Types of Work Performed
Job Satisfaction
Work Environment
Financial Benefits
Summary
5. On Company Time
Social: Cohesion and Group Identity
Recreation or Learning
6. Transformations
Campus Mainframes
Plessey Data Systems
Batch Mode Circulation Systems: York University
Geac Library Information System
Upgrades and Migrations
Requests for Information
The RFP Process
Transformations: The Technologies
Transformations: Technical Aspects
Characteristics of the Bibliographic Data
Small Capacities and Compact Computer Code
Circulation Transactions
Cataloguing and Authorities
Overnight Processing
Local Initiatives and a Typical Offline-Processing Cycle
General Indications of System Activity and Database Contents
RAT 40K
Computers and Peripherals
Mainframes, Minis, Superminis, and Micros
Data Structures and Transactions-The Case of NOTIS
Library Requirements, Data Representation, and Transactions
A Circulation Scenario
Accommodating Library Policies
Acquisitions Systems
7. Consolidation and Lasting Achievements
The Business of Library Automation
Changing Business Models
Product Maturation
Competition Among Vendors
The Age Factor
Advances in Computing and Information Science
End of an Era
Conclusions
8. The Future of Library Technology
Louise O'Neill
Integrated Library Systems
Open Source Software
Increased Focus on Library Users' Experience of Technology
Description and Discovery Tools
Nonlocal Information Resources and Delivery
Mobile and Ubiquitous Access
Other Library Technology Future Directions
Institutional and Digital Repositories and Open Access
Libraries as Publishers
Adoption and Convergence of Library and Nonlibrary Technologies
Future Librarians and Technology
Index