Automation in documentation A mechanised coordinate index system

A description is given of a mechanised and automated coordinate index system which by the substitution of punched tape for term cards and the use of film offers a wide range of new applications. As in the Uniterm System, each document receives a number. Each position in the punched tape or film is numbered successively from a selected starting point and these numbers represent the numbers given to the documents. Each punched tape represents one term and a perforation in this tape reveals that the document, the number of which corresponds to that of the perforation, has this term as one of its characteristics. A film contains at each perforation a greatly reduced image of a reference to the document the number of which corresponds to that of the perforation. Thus, if a punched tape and the film are read synchronously, each reference image with a number corresponding to a perforation in the tape will be automatically reproduced. In this way, then, references to all documents for which a particular term is a characteristic can be obtained. On the other hand, by reading several tapes synchronously it is possible to record fully automatically the numbers belonging to those documents which possess all the terms represented by the tapes.