A History of Online Information Services, 1962–1976

By Charles P. Bourne, Trudi Bellardo Hahn

Subjects: Information retrieval, Information scientists, online search service, scale information processing systems, Biography, commercial search service, remote online access, combined file search system, tape distribution service, search term weighting, parallel milestone, Online information services, online search capability, bibliographic search systems, posting counts, online retrieval service, public online service, subject search capability, reference retrieval system, Online information services industry, online search system, interactive bibliographic search, online bibliographic search system, online retrieval system, online bibliographic retrieval system, microform storage, Information storage and retrieval systems, word proximity searching, formatted file system, batch searching, History, library systems development, Online bibliographic searching

Description: *From the MIT Press:* Every field of history has a basic need for a detailed chronology of what happened: who did what when. In the absence of such a resource, fanciful accounts flourish. This book provides a rich narrative of the early development of online information retrieval systems and services, from 1963 to 1976—a period important to anyone who uses a search engine, online catalog, or large database. Drawing on personal experience, extensive research, and interviews with many of the key participants, the book describes the individuals, projects, and institutions of the period. It also corrects many common errors and misconceptions and provides milestones for many of the significant developments in online systems and technology.