Tape Library Research Articles

A factor analysis of the education laws of Pennsylvania

The aims of this investigation were to undertake an analysis of the education laws of Pennsylvania through the utilization of computer technology and the technique of factor analysis in order to uncover underlying concepts around which the law is organized; to generate hypotheses regarding the use of factor analysis to produce classification systems; and to uncover methods for increasing the effectiveness of results of law searches via computers. The magnetic tape library of the Health Law Center, University of Pittsburgh, contains the entire statutory compilation of Pennsylvania; all statutory enactments pertaining to education included under Title 24, Purdon's Pennsylvania Statutes Annotated(EDUCATION) were inspected and it was determined that 1341 sections of the law comprised Title 24. Listings of all words included in these sections (minus common words) were generated according to alphabetic and descending frequency. Criteria were chosen in order to objectify the selection of words to be included for investigation, resulting in the acceptance of 313 words grouped into 113 variables. A word-document matrix (113 × 1341) was created on magnetic tape representing the occurrence of each variable within each section of the law and the degree of association of each variable within each section was determined by the product-moment correlation method. Twenty Eigenvectors were extracted from the 113 × 113 intercorrelation matrix by means of a principal components factor analysis program. By means of the varimax method, rotations were made of five, six, seven, nine, ten, eleven and twenty Eigenvectors. Meaningful interpretations could be made of the factors obtained from the five, six and seven Eigenvector rotations. However, the five Eigenvector rotation was chosen as being most meaningful and most consistent throughout the remaining rotations. On a basis of the frequency and density word approach used in this study, the chief concerns which the legislature has decided to deal with are: 1. Eligibility for, attainment of, and administration of retirement benefits. 2. Responsibility for, and the authority of local and county school officials in providing for, the educational programs and for adhering to legal procedures in doing so. 3. Bases for determining teachers' salaries. 4. Retained powers of the state in setting educational policy and for the approval of reimbursements by the state for local plant and instructional costs. 5. Bases for the Commonwealth's levying and collecting school revenues. It would thus appear that the paramount concerns of those responsible for the enactment of the education laws of Pennsylvania are largely monetary and administrative in nature. Implications of the study include: (1) with only two exceptions, the procedures involved were based upon computer technology, and even in the two exceptions judgement of the investigator was largely predicated upon empirical evidence; (2) names given to each factor were not dependent upon the inclusion of all variables since sufficient factor loadings of 0.500 and above were derived; (3) names given to factors were not an entirely subjective decision as independent judges were in basic agreement with the labels and the variables included within each factor; (4) a tentative classification system of education law could be derived on the basis of the factors extracted with some additional computer operations; (5) a potential use could be made of the word clusters within factors in the framing of legal inquiries by those engaged in information retrieval activities in the Health Law Center; and (6) high speed electronic computers are effective instruments for managing large quantities of written information and for locating conceptual structures by means of statistical analysis of language.

Duplication of files in a data processing system

The general considerations presented above, together with the particular example of the tape library, suggest the following conclusions concerning the use-fulness of file duplication when the files are stored in any arbitrary form using any type of storage medium with sequential access. 1. An increase in the number of copies of a file results in monotonic decrease of the average waiting time for a reference access to the file, the waiting time reaching its smallest value when nT=m. 2. The operational cost attains its smallest value (and as a rule has its minimum) for some number of file copies nS≥1. The value of nS increases with the ratio of the sorting time of the file to the time of effecting alterations in it, tc/ta. The value of nS is affected to a considerably lesser extent by the cost of storage and amortization of the storage media, with nS increasing as these parameters decrease. 3. From the viewpoint of the storage and processing of the files the optimum number of copies lies between nS and m. 4. In the example of the tape library the ratio tc/ta was assumed to have a value of about 6, which generally speaking is an underestimate (for punched cards tc/ta>10, and for magnetic disk storage it reaches even higher values). This suggests that for the majority of cases of storage of information in a library the duplication of files can be recommended. The optimum number of copies can be found for each individual case by the method presented above.

An approach to speech synthesis and recognition on a digital computer

The economics of storing, organizing, and interrogating the ever-increasing data bases that computer users have to deal with dictates the use of large computers located alongside tape libraries that store the data. Such computers and libraries will necessarily serve a large population of widely scattered users. Moreover, many of the users may not be trained as computer programmers and their interests may not lie in the area of techniques of man-machine communications. Such an increase in the number of users, in the diversity of the users' backgrounds, and in the physical separation between the users and computers introduces severe inconveniences. Several methods interrogating computers from remote locations, such as teletype installations, video displays, or other “remote consoles” are now available for reducing the adverse effects of physical separation between the users and their computers.

Use of a Tape Recorder in the General Physics Recital: A Tape Library

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Various Problems in Tape Library in relation to the Establishment of Tape Library((Symposium) Reports)

Various Problems in Tape Library in relation to the Establishment of Tape Library((Symposium) Reports)

High-speed duplication of magnetic tape recordings

The high-speed duplication of previously recorded magnetic tapes has made the tape radio network practical. For example, each of the two major radio networks in Mexico duplicates over 19,000 seven-inch reels of taped programs per month for their several hundred affiliated stations. Since the tapes are erasable and wire program circuits are seldom used, these networks operate very economically, and the quality of their recorded programs is unimpaired by losses in transmission. Likewise, the adoption of Automatic Programming Systems for radio broadcasting will create a demand for syndicated magnetic tape programs and tape libraries. High-speed magnetic tape duplicators are also utilized for the mass production of tape recordings for entertainment, education, churches, libraries for the blind, reviews of professional publications, and sales information for large field sales organizations. The Ampex Model S-3200 tape duplicator with ten slaves will produce up to ten copies at one time of 15, <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">7\frac{1}{2}</tex> , or <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3\frac{3}{4}</tex> ips master recordings at 60 ips. The copies can be recorded to be reproduced either at the speed of the master or at half speed; i.e., <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">3\frac{3}{4}</tex> ips copies from a <tex xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">7\frac{1}{2}</tex> ips master. The duplicates may be either half-track, double-track, full-track, or two-track stereophonic. Comparisons are made of the degradation of the signal-to-noise ratio, frequency response, and distortion with respect to the number of generations of the duplicates. With optimum adjustment of the equipment, it is very difficult to identify the fourth generation copy from the master recording.

Audio‐visual aids

CREATIVE DRAMA: THE FIRST STEPS. 16 mm. film. 29 Minutes. Color. Sound. Written by Winifred Ward and Rita Criste. Narrated by Robert Breen. Produced and Directed by Jack C. Ellis. In cooperation with the Evanston Elementary Schools. Rental: $10.00. Purchase: $200.00. Available from Northwestern University Film Library, 614 Davis Street, Evanston, Illinois. FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT'S STATE OF UNION ADDRESS IN 1942. An unedited tape recording. ½ track. 7½ IPS. 35 Minutes. Code number: 7U. Purchaser may supply tape: 30 minutes requires 1200 feet. Tape will be supplied at $2.25 for 1200 feet reel. Purchaser must also pay return postage and $1.50 service charge. Available through University Tape Library, Audio‐Visual Center, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio. WINSTON CHURCHILL AND FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT. 1941. 1 reel. tape. 3¾ IPS. 35 Minutes. Code number: 164. Purchaser may supply tape: 30 minutes requires 600 feet. Tape will be supplied at $1.60 for 600 feet reel. Purchaser must also pay return postage a...

The American Music Center

Music by American composers is playing an increasingly large part in our educational system and cultural life, and this is due both to the growing stature of our native composers and to the increasing recognition of the importance of their contribution to our artistic life. The American Music Center was formed twenty-one years ago when six distinguished American composers (Aaron Copland, Howard Hanson, Harrison Kerr, Otto Luening, Quincy Porter, and the late Marion Bauer) decided to do something about the lack of a place where American music could be assembled for reference and study, and where accurate information about it could be supplied to the public. Equally important was their concern for the promotion of American music. This broad aim was a feature of the by-laws-to foster and encourage the composition of contemporary music and to promote its production, publication, distribution, and performance in every way possible. The Center's first act was the forming of a library of serious American music, now containing over 9,000 scores, which make it the world's largest circulating collection of this music. While a substantial part of the music is published, much is unpublished, since many works by American composers have a difficult time to find their way into print. AMC is non-profit and entirely non-partisan; any and all composers are invited to participate. (Over 500 composers are current members of the Center.) For nominal yearly dues, members receive a carefully planned series of services and benefits, such as low-cost, high-quality reproduction service, the opportunity to place music in the Center's library, a free subscription to Music Today Newsletter, the official journal of the Center which carries information of members' activities, awards, etc., and discounts on scores, books, music, and records. Other categories of membership include Friends, Patrons, Institutions, Orchestras, Publishers, and Professionals, with services and privileges designed for each type. As an informational bureau, AMC maintains files of biographical material, archives of musical criticism, festival and competition data, and publishers' catalogues. Publishers are helped by the Center since it receives a constant flow of inquiries inquiring, for example, what firm publishes a certain selection and where can this music be purchased? One of the Center's latest projects is the establishing of a tape library to supplement its score library; an unfamiliar piece of music can be more readily understood when the interested conductor, performer, student, etc. can listen to a rendering and look at the score coincidentally.