NSSDC Conference on Mass Storage Systems and Technologies for Space and Earth Science Applications, volume 1

Papers and viewgraphs from the conference are presented. This conference served as a broad forum for the discussion of a number of important issues in the field of mass storage systems. Topics include magnetic disk and tape technologies, optical disks and tape, software storage and file management systems, and experiences with the use of a large, distributed storage system. The technical presentations describe, among other things, integrated mass storage systems that are expected to be available commercially. Also included is a series of presentations from Federal Government organizations and research institutions covering their mass storage requirements for the 1990's

Proceedings of the NSSDC Conference on Mass Storage Systems and Technologies for Space and Earth Science Applications

The proceedings of the National Space Science Data Center Conference on Mass Storage Systems and Technologies for Space and Earth Science Applications held July 23 through 25, 1991 at the NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center are presented. The program includes a keynote address, invited technical papers, and selected technical presentations to provide a broad forum for the discussion of a number of important issues in the field of mass storage systems. Topics include magnetic disk and tape technologies, optical disk and tape, software storage and file management systems, and experiences with the use of a large, distributed storage system. The technical presentations describe integrated mass storage systems that are expected to be available commercially. Also included is a series of presentations from Federal Government organizations and research institutions covering their mass storage requirements for the 1990's

NSSDC Conference on Mass Storage Systems and Technologies for Space and Earth Science Applications, volume 2

This report contains copies of nearly all of the technical papers and viewgraphs presented at the NSSDC Conference on Mass Storage Systems and Technologies for Space and Earth Science Application. This conference served as a broad forum for the discussion of a number of important issues in the field of mass storage systems. Topics include the following: magnetic disk and tape technologies; optical disk and tape; software storage and file management systems; and experiences with the use of a large, distributed storage system. The technical presentations describe, among other things, integrated mass storage systems that are expected to be available commercially. Also included is a series of presentations from Federal Government organizations and research institutions covering their mass storage requirements for the 1990's

Programmable image associative memory using an optical disk and a photorefractive crystal

The optical disk is a computer-addressable binary storage medium with very high capacity. More than 10^10 bits of information can be recorded on a 12-cm-diameter optical disk. The natural two-dimensional format of the data recorded on an optical disk makes this medium particularly attractive for the storage of images and holograms, while parallel access provides a convenient mechanism through which such data may be retrieved. In this paper we discuss a closed-loop optical associative memory based on the optical disk. This system incorporates image correlation, using photorefractive media to compute the best association in a shift-invariant fashion. When presented with a partial or noisy version of one of the images stored on the optical disk, the optical system evolves to a stable state in which those stored images that best match the input are temporally locked in the loop

Rescuing the legacy project: a case study in digital preservation and technical obsolescence

The ability to maintain continuous access to digital documents and artifacts is one of the most significant problems facing the archival, manuscript repository, and record management communities in the twenty-first century. This problem with access is particularly troublesome in the case of complex digital installments, which resist simple migration and emulation strategies. The Legacy Project, which was produced by the William Breman Jewish Heritage Museum in Atlanta, was created in the early 2000s as a means of telling the stories of Holocaust survivors who settled in metropolitan Atlanta. Legacy was an interactive multimedia kiosk that enabled museum visitors to read accounts, watch digital video, and examine photographs about these survivors. However, several years after Legacy was completed, it became inoperable, due to technological obsolescence. By using Legacy as a case study, I examine how institutions can preserve access to complex digital artifacts and how they can rescue digital information that is in danger of being lost.M.S.Committee Chair: Knoespel, Kenneth; Committee Member: Burnett, Rebecca; Committee Member: Fox Harrell; Committee Member: TyAnna Herringto

Tunneling magnetic force microscopy

We have developed a powerful new tool for studying the magnetic patterns on magnetic recording media. This was accomplished by modifying a conventional scanning tunneling microscope. The fine-wire probe that is used to image surface topography was replaced with a flexible magnetic probe. Images obtained with these probes reveal both the surface topography and the magnetic structure. We have made a thorough theoretical analysis of the interaction between the probe and the magnetic fields emanating from a typical recorded surface. Quantitative data about the constituent magnetic fields can then be obtained. We have employed these techniques in studies of two of the most important issues of magnetic record: data overwrite and maximizing data-density. These studies have shown: (1) overwritten data can be retrieved under certain conditions; and (2) improvements in data-density will require new magnetic materials. In the course of these studies we have developed new techniques to analyze magnetic fields of recorded media. These studies are both theoretical and experimental and combined with the use of our magnetic force scanning tunneling microscope should lead to further breakthroughs in the field of magnetic recording

FBI fingerprint identification automation study. AIDS 3 evaluation report. Volume 2: Technical feasibility

The results of this effort are presented in a manner for use by both the AIDS 3 Operational and Economic Feasibility subtasks as well as the Development of Alternative subtask. The approach taken was to identify the major functions that appear in AIDS 3 and then to determine which technologies would be needed for support. The technologies were then examined from the point of view of reliability, throughput, security, availability, cost and possible future trends. Whenever possible graphs are given to indicate projected costs of rapidly changing technologies

Binding time: Harold Innis and the balance of new media

Much has been made of the impacts of digital media on the experience of space: new modes of perception and action at a distance: accelerating globalisation; shifting boundaries between work and home life; and so on. It is less common to read about the impacts of digital media on the experience of time. Yet, the digitisation of cultural practices and artefacts has significant implications for structuring our relationships with both the future and the past. In the theoretical traditions concerned with technology and time, the work of Harold Innis, a Canadian economist and communications theorist, offers an approach to understanding the social significance of all kinds of media. He analysed how different media relate to space and time: space-binding media extend influence and meanings over distances, helping to build empires and develop cohesion across space; while time-binding media influence cultural patterns in duration. For Innis, civilisations can be measured by their balance between managing time and controlling space. If this remains the case today, how has the computer changed this balance in our own culture? This paper examines the extent to which Innis’s concepts about media still apply today