Obsolete Technology: Woodson Edition, c1990

I was looking at a picture of the inside of the Woodson taken right about the time I got here in 1991. I’ve used this image before but this time I noticed something that had escaped me earlier:

(This photo makes me feel all kind of things, by the way, but mostly gratitude for the remodel that gave us a far nicer space to work in.)

You can see it clearly in this shot. And yes, the card catalogue is also sadly obsolete but I do not recognize that terminal on top of it at all. Any thoughts?

Bonus: Here we go again.

 

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6 Responses to Obsolete Technology: Woodson Edition, c1990

  1. Philip Walters says:

    The terminal looks like a Lear-Seigler ADM-3A. A “dumb” video terminal. Not sure what it would have been connected to in 1991. I have one of those terminals stored in the attic of my shop somewhere. You obviously need it for an office decoration

  2. Grant Youngman (Baker, '67) says:

    Yep. That terminal started shipping sometime in the mid-late 70’s . So by 1991, it was already an archeological relic …

  3. marmer01 says:

    Looks vaguely like a TRS-80 terminal too. We had a handful of those in Sewall Hall and some of them made it to APBH in ‘90/91.

  4. effegee says:

    The library had its own computer system at that time, managed by then Asst. Librarian Kay Flowers. So it’s likely the terminal was connected to that system.

    I believe Walter is correct that they were LS ADM-3A’s. They were considered for use in ICSA labs but the Visual 200/210 terminals ended up becoming the standard terminal.

  5. Mark Boone says:

    Melissa – it is gratifying to know that you like the renovation. Shepley Bulfinch was the design architect/library planner, Bailey Architects was the executive architect, Ana Ramirez was Rice’s PM and Sara Lowman sat in every construction meeting as the client representative.

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