Dynix (software)

This article is about the 1980s–1990s integrated library software package. For the UNIX-like operating system, see DYNIX.
A Wyse WY-30 serial terminal displaying Dynix at the A.K. Smiley Public Library in Redlands, California, where Dynix was used from 1993 to 2001.[1]
A Wyse WY-60 serial terminal displaying Dynix via Telnet.

The Dynix Automated Library System was a popular integrated library system, with a heyday from the mid-1980s to the late-1990s. It was used by libraries to replace the paper-based card catalog, and track lending of materials from the library to patrons.[2]

First developed in 1983, it eventually became the most popular library automation software ever released, and was once near-ubiquitous in libraries boasting an electronic card catalog, peaking at over 5,000 installations worldwide in the late 1990s, with a market share of nearly 80%,[3] including the United States' Library of Congress.

Typical of 1980s software technology, Dynix had a character-based user interface, involving no graphics except ASCII art/ANSI art boxes.

  1. ^ http://www.librarytechnology.org/lwc-displaylibrary.pl?RC=1362 [dead link‍]
  2. ^ Gordon Dunsire, Chris Pinder, (1991) "Dynix, automation and development at Napier Polytechnic", Program: electronic library and information systems, Vol. 25 Iss: 2, pp.91 - 103
  3. ^ Automation Systems Installed Archived 2016-01-05 at the Wayback Machine Counting by Library organizations.