activities into one integrated system, allowing librarians to perform almost all their functions online. This produced the turnkey systems commonly known as Integrated Library Systems (or ILS) that subsequently dominated library management and service functions. Data entered once could be used in multiple ways, which increased efficiently and accuracy.
             These integrated software applications were introduced to the marketplace using minicomputers capable of processing Machine Readable Cataloguing (MARC) records, a national standard record format on flat files. During the 1980s many library vendors began to offer host-terminal applications, thus launching the era of one-way networking over communications networks. At this stage, the hardware, operating system, and application software were proprietary and permitted little customization or sharing between academic institutions and their users.
             The transition from large scale computing technologies to microcomputers was well under way by the mid-1980s. This trend required re-education of the library and systems Information Technology staff, which added significant cost to libraries. Three changes followed: different library application providers, more powerful technologies, and software applications and networking configurations that were no longer developed in-house.
             Libraries of all types began utilizing new application systems to automate resource sharing. Union catalogues and Inter-library Loan modules were developed by library software vendors to allow cooperating institutions to combine their catalogues and allow patrons of one library to request and borrow materials from linked institutions. These technologies fostered the growth of library consortia and the extension of offerings beyond the organizational boundaries of individual libraries.
             As the 1980s ended, libraries and computing centres were tackling communications relational databases, and information distributi...