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No one seems to know just who came up with the idea
to call the Stanford On-Line Catalog "Socrates,"
though many know that it was suggested by the initials
SOC. The Campus Report of Oct. 5, 1983 (p.7) reports that
it was chosen "because in one of its principle modes
of use ["Lookup," later called "Guided
Mode"],
the system engages the user in a 'socratic' questioning
session in order to specify the kind of searching to be
done."
Socrates has come a long way since its introduction on
September 4, 1983. Browsing, circulation information, and
listing the library's periodicals were all future improvements.
More recently, we've added links to online resources and
the ability to place recalls and holds from the catalog.
In its early days, Socrates was only available 6am-midnight
weekdays, 9am-midnight on Saturday, and 3pm-midnight on
Sunday. There were terminals in Green, Meyer, Engineering,
Falconer Biology and in departments around campus. If you
had access to the campus mainframe, you could dial in and
use it, as well. Now anyone with an Internet connection
can search Socrates by going to http://socrates.stanford.edu,
and it is generally available 24 hours, 7 days a week except
for scheduled maintenance time from 4am to 8am on Sunday
mornings.
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