Materials from The Fergusson Years: Vassar, 1986-2006
Computing
Photograph of library computer terminal displaying the online catalog, 1991. Photographer: Ben Rayfield. Courtesy Office of College Relations.
In 1989, a new computing cluster opened in the College Center to meet the growing needs of the students. This set of computers brought the total number of public terminals to more than 200 (today there are 414). They were used not only for word processing, but also for Vax-mail (email) and Vax-phone (chat) or posting to a Vax-notes conference (list-serv). The campus would have to wait another year for an online catalog at the library, another 6 years for a Vassar web site, and another 9 before most campus personnel could be reached by email...but the information highway had officially reached Vassar. See item in checklist.