40 Million Hits on Optical Disk
[excerpt]

By Peter J. Nofel
Associate Editor

The Library of Congress is studying the use of optical disk technology to determine the feasibility of putting its "Top 40" on platters in a jukebox. That Top 40 is really the nearly 80 million documents it has on-hand.

The pilot project for the most massive optical disk conversion program in history is quietly underway in the cool, hushed halls of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. The four-year program, begun in 1982, is exploring the possibility of incorporating both digital and analog optical disk capabilities into the Library's services. The program encompasses the storage and retrieval of both print and non-print materials.

The Library has six reasons for using the optical disk storage:

• Preservation. Materials printed on acidic paper are self-destructing with age, and even non-acidic materials suffer deterioration with handling over the years. By putting such materials on optical disk, the Library hopes to preserve the images from the destruction of the paper on which they were printed, and also offer users greater access to source materials and yet keep them from multiple handling.

• Service. Library resources not immediately available must now be requested by call slips. During peak periods, it may take up to two hours before the material is delivered – if it is not being used by someone else. Retrieval of material via optical disk would take only seconds, and could be viewed on several terminals simultaneously.

• Access. When using original source materials, such as manuscripts, maps, and music, a person must search several different locations. With these documents on optical disk, all of these materials could be called up on one terminal.

• Space. The Library now has 80 million items in its collection, a collection growing at 10 items per minute. With almost no room left on Capital Hill for expansion, some sort of miniaturization is necessary. The Library of Congress determined optical disk storage provides the high data densities needed. Once on optical disk, original materials could be stored off-site . . .

– excerpt end –

How Optical Disks work