General Information

Serial #

3938

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

Synthetic casing, metal structure and glass monitor tube. Extérieur synthétique. Structure en métal et tube de moniteur en verre.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

66.0 cm

Width

29.3 cm

Height

32.5 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Computing Technology

Category

Digital peripheral devices

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Geac

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

City

Markham

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

Mid-to-late 1980's

Canada

Geac Computer Corporation, Ltd was a producer of enterprise resource planning, performance management, and industry specific software based in Markham, Ontario. It was a world leader in developing online library systems and the University of Ottawa was one of their first customers. The UofO offered a fully searchable online public access catalogue, replacing the former card catalogue, in the mid-1980s. Prior to that, the University’s library had automated the circulation of library materials and went on to implement an online acquisition system, a serial control system, and one of the first email systems. The intergrated software package ran on a Geac-built minicomputer (Gaec 800 and, later, 9000) using Gaec terminals. GCC was acquired by Infor Global Solutions in March 2006 for US$1 billion. The donor worked as an Assistant Librarian in Technical Services at the University of Ottawa library. He was given this, then-obsolete, object as a gift before he left for the position of Librarian at Carleton University. Gaec Computer Corporation Ltd était un producteur de gestion intégré basé à Markham en Ontario. Cette compagnie était un leader mondial en développant un système de bibliothèque en ligne et l'Université d'Ottawa était un des premiers clients. L'Université d'Ottawa offrait un catalogue d'accès public en ligne entièrement consultable, qui a remplacé l'ancien catalogue physique dans les années 1980. La compagnie GCC a été acquis par Infor Global Solution en mars 2006 pour US$1 milliard. Le donateur a travaillé comme bibliothécaire assistant à l'Université d'Ottawa. Il lui avait été donné cette machine, alors obsolète, avant de quitter pour la position de bibliothécaire à l'Université Carleton.

Function

Used as the user interface (input/output) of the circulation system at the University of Ottawa Library. Utilisé comme un interface pour utilisateur pour le système de circulation à la bibliothèque de l'Université d'Ottawa.

Technical

This terminal connected to a Geac 8000 mini-computer. The barcode wand allowed users to scan a book into the online public access catalogue. Geac developed hardware and operating system software to link minicomputers together, and integrated multiple-access disk drives, thereby creating a multi-processor minicomputer with a level of protection from data loss. Subsequently, Geac replaced the minicomputers with a proprietary microcoded processor of its own design, resulting in vastly improved software flexibility, reliability, performance, and fault tolerance. This system, called the Geac 8000, was introduced in 1978. Ce système se connectait à un mini-ordinateur Geac 8000. Le système de code-barre permettait aux utilisateurs de balayer un livre dans le catalogueen-ligne. Geac a developpé des logiciels de système pour relier les mini-ordinateurs entre eux, créant ainsi un créant ainsi un mini-ordinateur multiprocesseur avec un niveau de protection contre la perte de données.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

On a plate in the back proper left corner of the top of the keyboard panel: "Geac 8314"/ On a small plate on the keyboard panel next to the monitor support: "Geac/ PLEASE QUOTE DEVICE/ No 03938/ WHEN REQUESTING SERVICE"/ Labeling below the connectors at the back: "HOST/ CONNECTOR"/ "NEXT/ TERMINAL"/ "POWER/ ADAPTER"/ "COMPOSITE/ VIDEO"/ On the blue and silver label on the bottom of the unit: "informer/ LOS ANGELES,/ CA 90045, U.S.A./ MODEL/ D304L-M/ SERIAL NO./ 27251/ VOLTS RMS/ AMPS/ Hz/ NFPA TYPE II/ 8332 OSAGE AVE. - TWX 910-328-6544 - (213) 649-2030"/ On the proper bottom are diagrams, with the heading "DIP SWITCH OPTIONS"/ On a white label on the proper bottom: "USE ONLY WITH/ SERIES 304/ POWER SUPPLY"

Missing

Appears complete

Finish

Beige synthetic casing with a blue panel around the keyboard area, brown accents, and silver-coloured plates with black and red markings and blue and silver-coloured labels under the keyboard section and under the monitor casing. The monitor has a brownish glass screen. Extérieur synthétique beige avec un panneau bleu qui contourne le clavier. Le moniteur a un écran en vers de couleur brune.

Decoration

N/A