major paper 1
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Major Paper 1 - Influential Technologies In the Field of Information ScienceTRANSCRIPT
Revolutionary Technologies In the Field of Information Science
Major Technologies
Calculators Manual Mechanical
Difference and Analytical Engines
Punched Card System/Tabulating Machine
Computers
Databases
Microfilm
The Beginnings of Calculators
Manual Calculators Abacus – used in Rome, Greece, India, China, Japan
Rectangular in shape – columns of beads mounted on rods
Each column of beads representing different values: specific algorithms for manipulating the beads
Napier’s Bones – invented by John Napier
Device for multiplication and division – several rods divided into 10 squares, each square possessed two numbers
Rods positioned according to different calculations
Hence the name, the rods were made from bones
Manual Calculators Cont.
Slide RuleEnglish mathematician, William Oughtred, derived the slide rule from Napier’s logarithms
Early example of an analog computer
Mechanical Calculators
Implement algorithms autonomously
Schickard’s Calculator Interlocking gears – each had 10 spokes which represented a specific digit
Every time a gear completed a full rotation it moved one notch to the left
In essence, this movement represented the “carrying of a one”
Difference Engine
Run by steam power
Calculates large tables of numbers
Unable to make gears with enough precision – machine was not successfully
Analytical Engine
Also, this machine was never fully completed
The design of the machine paralleled with the modern day computer: memory, programmable processor, output device, input of programs/data
Punched Card System/Tabulating
MachinePunched Card System
Began with Joseph-Marie Jacquard and the programmable loom
First practical use of the binary system, which led to the development of the computer
Hollerith Tabulating MachineCensus Bureau held a competition – best way to tabulate the 1890 census
Herman Hollerith won cards had areas to represent different fields and then they were punched
Card reader used metal rods to read the data
Transition to Computers
First-Generation ComputersVacuum tubes used to store individual bits of data – controls flow of electrons
Two distinct states – 0 or 1
Custom application programs
Second-Generation Computers Use of transistors instead of vacuum tubes
Advantages – smaller, cheaper, more reliable, didn’t consume as much power
Supported operating systems that supported standard routines
Programming language compilers – used English instead of binary
Computers Cont.
Third-Generation Computers Development of integrated circuits – comparable to thousands of vacuum tubes or transistors in a miniature chip
DEC PDP-8 – first successful minicomputer
Fourth-Generation Computers Ted Hoff – developed the first general-purpose microprocessor
Intel 4004 – miniature in size, possessed the power of the ENIAC
DatabasesFunctions:
Collect/store data
Update data
Organize data
Distribute data
Find data
Analyze data
Relational Databases A collection of related tables
Entity-RelationshipFocuses on how each individual entity relates to another
Microfilm
Reducing the size of images
Reprographic science – preservation of written materials
Becoming a large part of library services because a lot of printed documents are deteriorating
Negatives can be kept for approximately 500 years