General Information

Serial #

0840-6588

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

SYNTHETIC DISK/ ALUMINUM-SILVER COATING, POSSIBLY WITH COATING TO PROTECT SURFACE FROM HUMIDITY/ PLASTIC CASE

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

14.4 cm

Width

12.6 cm

Height

1.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Computing Technology

Category

Digital peripheral devices

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

University

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

City

Guelph

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

1988-1989

Canada

UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH DEVELOPED WORLD'S FIRST COMPUTERIZED PUBLIC ACCESS LIBRARY CATALOGUE IN MAY 1987. THIS DISK IS OF THIRD GENERATION; DISKS WERE UPDATED SPORATICALLY, APPROXIMATELY EVERY 6 MONTHS. CD-ROM REPLACED ON-LINE SYSTEM AT GUELPH; LATTER PREVIOUSLY HAD REPLACED CARD CATALOGUE. CIRCULATION EXPANDED TO NEIGHBOURING LIBRARIES & OTHER INTERESTED ORGS; BY 1991 MORE THAN 50 COPIES WERE DISTRIBUTED.

Function

STORAGE DEVICE FOR COMPUTER DATA THAT PERMANENTLY RECORDS INFORMATION IN DIGITAL FORM AS SERIES OF PITS ETCHED BY LASER ONTO SURFACE OF DISK; CD-ROM IS CAPABLE OF STORING TOGETHER AUDIO, VIDEO, TEXTUAL, & GRAPHICS DATA. THIS DISK CONTAINS UNIVERSITY LIBRARY CATALOGUE FOR USE AT WORKSTATIONS IN LIBRARY & ON CAMPUS.

Technical

CD-ROM HOLDS LARGE QUANTITIES OF INFORMATION, PROVIDING EASY ACCESS. HOWEVER READ-ACCESS TIME IS ABOUT 4 TIMES THAT OF COMPUTER HARD DRIVE. CD-ROMS WERE WORMS (WRITE-ONCE-READ-MANY-TIMES) & WERE VERY EXPENSIVE TO PRODUCE IN SMALL QUANTITITES.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

RED LETTERING ON DISK READING 'the Library/ Public Access Catalogue', 'Published by/ the Librry at the/ University of Guelph/ Guelph, Ont./ Canada/ (519)824-4120/ ext. 3600', 'ISBM: 0-88955-144-8/ ISSN: 0840-6588', 'data as of/ 1 July 1988'/ METALLIC LETTERING ON DISK READS 'GLP-08406588 S0I01'/ LETTERING READING 'SHAPE OPTIMEDIA INC./ MADE IN USA'

Missing

N/A

Finish

COLOURLESS & TRANSPARENT CASE WITH BLACK SPINE & DISK HOLDER/ METALLIC DISK

Decoration

REPEATED RED 'THE UNIVERSITY OF GUELPH LIBRARY' IN CONCENTRIC CIRCLES ON DISK