The Computing Center was founded in 1984 to improve the quality of the Academy's research environment and raise research productivity. In 1985, the Center started to recruit staff, purchase hardware, work out plans, promote administrative automation, and assist the Institutes in using computers. The Center's chief mission is to provide networking and computing services.
In 1988, the Academy Network, which interconnects computers of the Institutes, was established. In 1989, we installed a science-oriented computing system and connected the Academy Network to the Internet. In 1990, the Computing Center became an official division of Academia Sinica after revision of the Academy's Organization Law. In the same year, we started planning the Library Automation System and established the Twenty-Five Dynastic Histories database.
The Computing Center has adopted the strategy of "Integrated Planning and Distributed Cooperation" to establish a network-centric information technology (IT) environment in the Academy.
We have planned the following four strategies in an effort to apply information technology to the Academy's research tasks:
The Computing Center has connected our Fiber High Performance Academy Network to the Taiwan Academy Network (TANet) and the Bay Area Regional Research Network (BARRNet), thereby forming a complete networking layout, through which information sharing and communication inside and outside the Academy can be efficiently achieved.
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The Computing Center provides eight computer systems designated for computing services to effectively and economically increase overall computing power: SPARC 2000E for UNIX users, DEC 7610 AXP and VAX4500 for VMS users, ACER6000 for office automation, DEC system 5500 for library automation, CONVEX C3420 for vector computing, IBM RS6000 for scalar computing, IBM SP2 for parallel distributed processing, Convex Meta for mass storage. In addition, the Computing Center has introduced numerical, symbolical, visualizational, and biochemical computing packages, such as NAG, MATLAB, Maple, PV-WAVE, and Gaussian 94. Training courses and consultation services for such softwares are available in the Center.
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Information services in the Computing Center include the information processing of library resources, office automation, and Chinese text databases. The Library Automation System -- INNOPAC (release 9.1) has been in use since January 1993, and there are now 110 user licenses and approximately 440,000 bibliographic records. Various groups in the Computing Center have been designated to coordinate relevent institutes to speedup this task. So far, retrospective cataloging of foreign language books and periodicals, and on-line service of all libraries in the Academy have been accomplished. We have also established a research staff publication database for the Academy and started research on authority control. Since March 1995, a document delivery service has also been at work for obtaining international research resources.
In order to assist research in the humanities and social sciences, the Computing Center keeps improving the Chinese Text Retrieval System (CTRS). We have created indexes for Chinese and foreign languages, so that the response of retrieval becomes much quicker. We also improved the markup inside the text databases to accommodate CTRS to more sophisticated Chinese classics. The Institutes in Academia Sinica have made a large number of Chinese text databases, including the Twenty-Five Dynastic Histories database, which has more than ninety million Chinese characters and is still increasing. A user may query any Chinese text database with the WWW browser instead of the earlier retrieval program in text mode. Our DORE II WWW text retrieval system, combining the functions of on-line maintenance, information query, user-interface setup, and output-format-generating language, is capable of processing both formatted and unformatted data. So far, seventeen DORE II databases have been completed.
In order to meet the requirements of all the Institutes for office automation and efficiency enhancement, the Computing Center has been developing various software packages. These include: a Personnel System, a Government Employees' Insurance System, a Labor Insurance System, a Payroll System, a Property Management System, a Budget Control System, and an Integrated Accounting System.
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Ever since its establishment, the Computing Center has been engaged in information technology promotion. Through a series of courses and training materials, people in the Academy have acquired operational skills and fundamental computer knowledge. As the Center's communication bridge to all other institutes in the Academy, the Computing Center Bulletin provides information about the Center's ongoing projects and services. Over the years, the Center has published 110 user manuals and technical reference guides. Currently, the Center is establishing network information systems such as NetNews, Gopher, and WWW (World Wide Web) to offer open information resources both within and outside the Academy. Through these services, domestic or foreign research information can be efficiently accessed to improve the research environment.