Cold type composition: Its impact on library and information science

Abstract

Cold type composition is a method of producing typescript and/or graphic information by means of inputting coded text into core memory and retrieving via programs written to highlight or extract specific elements of text. Such technology represents a significant advancement in information transfer because of 1. the incredible speed with which “printed” matter may be produced, and 2. the variety of publications made possible by massaging data bases already converted to machine readable form. This paper examines the two fundamentally different technologies of “CRT” and “Photon” composition in order to analyze their impact on library and information science. The author concludes we are on the verge of an information revolution which will allow for integration of knowledge to an unprecedented degree…provided the information community becomes aware of these implications, and rigorously questions present means of bibliographic control.