Many of the costs of design, construction, and building operation derive from the reliance on drawings as the description of record of the building. As a replacement, this paper outlines the design of a computer system useful for storing and manipulating design information at a detail allowing design, construction, and operational analysis. A…

Development of the Building Description System (BDS) was undertaken to explore use of the computer to construct models of complex physical systems. A fundamental goal of this work is a computer system capable of replacing drawings as the primary description for design and construction of buildings. This paper presents an overview of the database…

Describes use of computer software to improve staff preparedness for emergencies that may strike the library. Highlights include the Emergency Information System (EIS), which uses integrated emergency management databases with computer graphic maps of the surrounding area and floor plans of the library. Non-emergency applications of the software…