ABSTRACT
Society is in the early stages of evolution from communication via print on paper to communication via electronic means. Advances in data processing and communications, including electronic mail and satellite communication, offer new opportunities for rapid and efficient information transfer, and the library manager needs to be constantly alert to their potential for improving services. Digital mode generally transmits messages more accurately than analogue and also has the advantage of being entirely compatible with computer systems, all of which are digital. The public switched telephone network which utilizes line switching may generally be said to have high error rates for data transmission and suffer from the additional disadvantage of being unable to support high-speed terminals. The network itself also forms part of a research project to evaluate the feasibility of large computer networks and to investigate techniques that could be used in such networks.
