Thermodynamics information systems

Printed compilations of data, which appeared at the end of the 19th century, were for a long time the only means of accessing information in thermodynamics. Magnetic tapes for data storage and processing remained the tools of specialized computing centers from the early 1970s until the development of microcomputing. Microcomputing brought great autonomy, which was immediately reflected in the explosion of available data sources. Successive technological advances have transformed :

• means of distribution (from floppy disk to CD-ROM to FTP server) ;

• access via specialized telecommunication networks (Transpac) for more efficient database management and sharing;

• information search performance.

The advent of the Internet has opened up new horizons, making it relatively easy to identify resource centers and collections of data and software. These sources have become virtual, as the hardware aspects that dominated previous technologies have been blurred by network interfacing.