Mass Storage Technologies for Libraries & information Centres

To overcome growing requirements for additional space and for archival storage of less used, old and important documents, libraries have been using compact or dormitory storage and microfilming techniques. Of late, information technologies have come to their rescue. Many technologies-magnetic as well as optical have been tried for the past many years for mass storage of information. While magnetic drum and tape are,heading towards obsolescence, optical ' technologies with their enormous storage capacities are trying to fill the gap. This paper overviews the various 'technologies available for mass storage in the library environment. The paper covers the magnetic storage devices including magnetic tape, magnetic disc, cartridge tape and digital audio tape. The optical disc storage technologies including read-only, write once read many and erasablelre-writeable media have been described. The role of optical discs in making electronic publishing a popular technology has also been described. Future trends in the mass storage technologies like volume holographic technology, electronic trap and proximal probe technologies, and fluorescent multi-layered technology which are under various stages of development have also been briefly discussed. Applications of these technologies in library and information centres. have been listed. 1