80s/90s Calgary Public Library Computer Catalogue Terminals

[Hack&Lube]

This is something that has been bothering me for years, but does anybody else remember the Calgary Public Library Computer Catalogue system back from the late 80s and early 90s?

I have vivid childhood memories of the ways we had to search for books on these terminals and I have incredibly fond memories of typing on the keyboards.

I can't for the life of me figure out what they were however. All I remember was that they were green screen computer terminals and the keyboard keycaps may have been black or some dark color. I have been searching for that same typing feeling for a very long time.

Does anybody else remember or know anything about the oldschool library catalogue system from 30+ years ago? Any idea what the terminals were?

[psyang]

I dont remember the terminals, but common terminals in that era would be the vt100s which I think were DECs. I also remember Wyse having a common terminal at that time. The vts were green displays, the Wyses might have been white on black.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by psyang

I dont remember the terminals, but common terminals in that era would be the vt100s which I think were DECs. I also remember Wyse having a common terminal at that time. The vts were green displays, the Wyses might have been white on black.

I found this article indicating CPL had migrated to Dynix in 1995. Researching Dynix seems to show it does work with Digital VT100s and Wyse terminals but that seems incredibly late to be still using terminals?

https://search.proquest.com/docview/...countid=140093

What I am remembering must be pre-1995 but the article infuriatingly doesn't explain what "the old system" was.

[WhiteTiger]

I'm curious now, too...I've got a buddy who's worked at one CPL or another for almost his entire life. I'll ask him, and update with his answer when he gets back to me.

[Fuzz]

When I went to the UofC in 1997 they still had terminals like that which we used to pick courses and check email. I think they were around until 1999 or so.

[psyang]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

I found this article indicating CPL had migrated to Dynix in 1995. Researching Dynix seems to show it does work with Digital VT100s and Wyse terminals but that seems incredibly late to be still using terminals?

https://search.proquest.com/docview/...countid=140093

What I am remembering must be pre-1995 but the article infuriatingly doesn't explain what "the old system" was.

That article says that Dynix is replacing an "aging, and overworked 15 year-old mainframe". If it's a mainframe, it will have been accessed via terminals.

Doing more searches on the Herald archives (I love doing this), I found a job posting from Sept 26, 1992 for a Senior Compute Operator at the Calgary Library. It mentions GEAC mini-computer knowledge as an asset.



On wikipedia, it mentions Geac introduced library management software in 1977, which is around the right timeframe for the "15 year old mainframe" comment from above.

It would have been running on a Geac 8000 which supported terminals that were "custom-designed Informer units".

From this page, it shows in May 1983 that Geac library terminals were produced (8360/8370), and later in December 1984, a terminal emulator was available for IBM PCs.

Edit: Just found this imgur gallery showing some pictures of an old geac library terminal. Does it look familiar?

[psyang]

Looks like there's one more on ebay available. Apparently a bunch were put on ebay back in December.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by psyang

Thanks for finding this information. That doesn't ring any bells. It definitely looks more colorful/70s than I remember. I seem to remember a dark keyboard kind of DEC VT100 or Radioshack TRS-80 type keycaps.

My imagination may be playing tricks on me however, it might have just been a standard grey/black/beige Wyse or IBM Model M style keyboard?

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

When I went to the UofC in 1997 they still had terminals like that which we used to pick courses and check email. I think they were around until 1999 or so.

Whoa, you're that old? Why did I think you were way younger? I was there 96 - 00.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Sliver

Whoa, you're that old? Why did I think you were way younger? I was there 96 - 00.

I'm so ####ing old. 1997-2002.

[Sliver]

lol I thought you were 30ish. Guess you just type like a younger man.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by Sliver

lol I thought you were 30ish. Guess you just type like a younger man.

I'll try to work more old English into my posts to show my age better.

[WhiteTiger]

Here's my friend's reply to your question:

Believe it or not, I do remember a bit of the history of Calgary Public Library’s computer systems. I’ve worked at the library since 1982, so I’ve lived through most of them.

CPL’s first system was Plessy, which began in 1978 and crashed and burned within a couple years. Much more successful was Geac, which the library had from 1983-1995. This actual sounds like the system your friend is remembering. The public terminals were actually “dumb” terminals provided by Geac that just connected to the main database downtown, but the computer screen was black with green lettering – in a few rare, delightful cases, orange.

After Geac came Dynix, which the library used from 1995-2004. The computer screens there were more standard, with an off-white screen and black lettering; again using dumb terminals.

In 2004, Dynix (now SirsiDynix) evolved into Horizon, which used a program on actual PCs to connect to the library’s catalogue and resources – this is when CPL began offering public internet access.

About 5 years ago, CPL developed its own interface with Horizon and uses both it and the SirsiDynix Horizon systems for different uses. Around the same time, CPL, like almost every public library system internationally, partnered with Bibliocommons to give a shared access platform to patrons.

So – I think your friend, from his description, is remembering Geac. ��

Boy, those were the days!!

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by WhiteTiger

Here's my friend's reply to your question:

Oh wow! That's awesome. There's all this obscure history that's part of the collective consciousness of growing up in a city that is often forgotten and wouldn't be documented anywhere except for in your friend's memory!

I loved going to the Nose Hill / Northland Library as a kid after swimming Sir Winston Churchill pool next door and then searching for books in the catalogue computer terminal.

Geac definitely sounds like the right one. Any chance he can remember what the terminal keyboards looked like or were called or if it was actually the one that Psyang posted above? I'm actually looking for one to possibly retrofit and use for modern day typing but that yellow/white one doesn't seem to jive with what I remember at the Nose Hill Branch.

[Jacks]

I'm getting old, when we were kids the library had cabinets full of of paper cards that you looked up the location of books with.

[Jiri Hrdina]

The microfiche machines were bad-ass.

[Hockeyguy15]

Originally Posted by Sliver

lol I thought you were 30ish. Guess you just type like a younger man.

Is it all the typos?

[Trolleydodger]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

I'm so ####ing old. 1997-2002.

You're kids.


I predate the Mac Hall expansion.

[Buff]

I wished I had seen this thread earlier than today. I'm in IT for libraries and I can probably answer quite a few questions, but not necessarily to full accuracy for what a particular library or region is doing.

Dynix seemed to be the defacto standard for a long time in Alberta. I'm not entirely sure if everybody used it, but most libraries did. Dynix was the name of the program made by Dynix.

Sirsi and Dynix merged into SirsiDynix and they made new and improved products. Horizon and Symphony being two of the most commonly used ILS (Integrated Library System) software used in the province today the other is Polaris. The two large libraries, CPL and EPL (Edmonton), do a lot of their own in-house development to customize the way their staff and patrons interface with the ILS.

BiblioCommons is the online portal where you, that patrons, can manage your account and items checked out or holds you have placed. BiblioCommons has a huge market share for libraries.

As for the hardware that you used in the library back in the late 80s and early 90s? Probably WYSE terminals. In the late 90s windows computers were used, at least by library staff, and Dynix was a terminal window that connected to the server.

I was part of a team that integrated from Dynix to SirsiDynix's Symphony over a decade ago. What a HUGE job that was! Even though I wasn't an end user of Dynix I miss it because it is your typical early 90s style program that I grew up using.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynix_(software)