Oral History of LIAS

In the 1970s, librarians were exploring ways newly-available computers might be used to transform every way libraries worked. The Penn State Libraries asked an ambitious question: could we build a library system ourselves? Out of this was born the Library Information Access System, LIAS. This oral history, conducted between 2021 and 2024, interviews 14 library employees who worked during the era of LIAS. Interviewees range from its lead technical architect and programmers to catalogers, library managers, subject librarians and three library administrators.