The profound transition from print to online combined the three cornerstones of the information age: computers to store vast quantities of information, software to manipulate it, and networks to carry it anywhere. These tools were given direction by the pioneers, whose visions are still unfolding today. The promise took shape slowly throughout the 1970s. A stream of new databases appeared, branching out from the original core in science and business to include the social sciences, humanities, news, and current events. The end-user movement progressed slowly, and the entire online community advanced in other ways throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. New databases came up regularly; host services expanded their content; subject-oriented niche services and databases appeared. CD-ROMs exposed many end-users to computerized searching. By the mid-1990s, online was again poised for a great surge. The Internet is now a force to be reckoned with by every industry, and it poses a particular challenge to the online industry.
BT - Online IS - January/February LA - English N2 -The profound transition from print to online combined the three cornerstones of the information age: computers to store vast quantities of information, software to manipulate it, and networks to carry it anywhere. These tools were given direction by the pioneers, whose visions are still unfolding today. The promise took shape slowly throughout the 1970s. A stream of new databases appeared, branching out from the original core in science and business to include the social sciences, humanities, news, and current events. The end-user movement progressed slowly, and the entire online community advanced in other ways throughout the 1980s and early 1990s. New databases came up regularly; host services expanded their content; subject-oriented niche services and databases appeared. CD-ROMs exposed many end-users to computerized searching. By the mid-1990s, online was again poised for a great surge. The Internet is now a force to be reckoned with by every industry, and it poses a particular challenge to the online industry.
PY - 1997 SP - 10 EP - 14 T2 - Online TI - Online Comes of Age VL - 21 ER -