Chemical Abstracts Service approach to management of large data bases

When information handling is "the business," as it is at Chemical Abstract Service (CAS), the total organization must be involved in information management. Since 1967, when, as a result of long-range planning efforts, CAS adopted a "data-base approach" to management of both the processing system and the distribution of information files, CAS has been grappling with the problems of managing large collections of information in computer-based systems. This paper describes what has been done at CAS in the management of large files and what we see as necessary, as a result of our experience, to improve and complete the information management system that is the foundation of our production processes.