Session Number
13
Description
The Joint Academic NETwork (JANET) was established in 1984 by the Computer Board for Universities and Research Councils and is now funded by its successor, the Information Services Committee (ISC) of the Universities Funding Council. JANET links users to the facilities of over 2000 registered computers on more than 200 sites within the U.K. All universities, polytechnics and the institutes funded by the various Research Councils are connected, as are many educational institutions. There is also a growing number of industrial and commercial organizations connected, all working in collaboration with members of the academic community. The Computer Board has always insisted on the need for rationalization in centrally funded academic computing and on the use of a standardized set of protocols on mainframe computers purchased with their money. As Mike Wells, the first Director of Networking wrote in 1988 "JANET is not the largest network in the world. JANET is not the most reliable network in the world; but JANET is almost certainly the most heterogeneous network using a single set of commonly adopted standards and integrating a large number of local area networks, in the world".[1]
The U.K. JANET Network and Its Use by Libraries
The Joint Academic NETwork (JANET) was established in 1984 by the Computer Board for Universities and Research Councils and is now funded by its successor, the Information Services Committee (ISC) of the Universities Funding Council. JANET links users to the facilities of over 2000 registered computers on more than 200 sites within the U.K. All universities, polytechnics and the institutes funded by the various Research Councils are connected, as are many educational institutions. There is also a growing number of industrial and commercial organizations connected, all working in collaboration with members of the academic community. The Computer Board has always insisted on the need for rationalization in centrally funded academic computing and on the use of a standardized set of protocols on mainframe computers purchased with their money. As Mike Wells, the first Director of Networking wrote in 1988 "JANET is not the largest network in the world. JANET is not the most reliable network in the world; but JANET is almost certainly the most heterogeneous network using a single set of commonly adopted standards and integrating a large number of local area networks, in the world".[1]