Library Data

Library Data is information obtainable from any ship's computer (or starport library) in response to the correct keywords. Only the specific information requested can be accessed by users; most data bases will not reveal additional data or allow indiscriminate browsing through the library records.

• A Ship's Computer is a vital information source for Travellers.
• The computer data entries on a variety of topics are known as Library Data.

Description (Specifications)

Most interstellar ships match up communications to a mainworld when jumping into a system and upload library data files in the same manner as earlier civilizations exchanged newspapers, town criers, or other news sources.

• Library data files are intentionally designed to be able to be uploaded in a variety of data formats.
• The files may be transmitted via anything from TL-4 Radio signals, all the way up to TL-15 Tachyon Communicators, improved laser comms, or LIDAR communications devices.
• Due to the speed of communications being limited to the speed of travel, many versions of a file will often circulated Charted Space. Even information on the same topic, may differ greatly from one end of space to the other.
• Some library data files haven't been updated in centuries. It isn't unheard of for library data files from the First Imperium to still be in use.

Library Update Program

The library update program available at any class A or B starport contains a wide variety of information. A shipowner may purchase the program for Cr10,000; local ships carrying passengers for hire will already have it. Any crew person with access to a computer console (and the program) can request information on a specific subject by specifying a keyword or phrase.

Imperial Library Entry on Library Data

"Library Data" is a general term used to describe the information available from a typical ship’s computer using its Library Program. In the past, library data had as its source a vast communication network paralleling that of the X-boat system that once operated throughout the united Imperium. An entire series of “hubs” amassed and organized vast quantities of data and send it out to each other. At each hub the entire collection of information could be compiled and redistributed to private customers, including starships, hotels, universities, fixed-location libraries, and hand computer services.

In the Divided Imperium, library data services have diminished much as the X-boat routes have. In various areas, reliable service can still be found-sometimes taken over by a commercial firm, sometimes taken over by a local governmental body. The farther that a message or data must travel, however, the more tenuous is its consistency. And X-boat messages have difficulty travelling across borders or are sometimes lost to marauding pirates. Library data likewise is sporadic and intermittent in its arrival, which causes much of its information to have lost its up to-the-minute flavor.

In addition, the library data “network” (pretending for the moment that the system still exists as intact as it once was) has lost contact with many of its original sources of data researchers, historians, and journalists often fail nowadays to submit timely reports of their discoveries. Embarrassing gaps exist in many library data entries today, and severe over-generalization has resulted in misinformation occasionally being published as apparent fact.

History & Background (Dossier)

Many restricted library data files require high level clearances to access. Many suspect that various polities manipulate the files, greatly censoring and controlling information.

• The Ulane Hoax is one of the best known examples of data manipulation. These files have led to great controversy.
• The AAB, TAS, and the Imperial Library on Capital are several of the most trusted sources of library data files within Charted Space.

SMART (Spinward Marches Archive Retrieval Team)

One of the areas of the Imperium that was first to lose its accurate library data was the area “behind the claw,” Trojan Reach, the Spinward Marches, and Deneb, but thanks to the quick action of Archduke Norris of Deneb, the library data service for the region was reestablished and made as accurate and efficient as it had been under the united Imperium.

SMART, the Spinward Marches Archive Retrieval Team, was selected from historians working at the region’s colleges and universities Under the direction of Eura Regnis of the Regina Center for Research, the team set to work in 1117 to restore library data service throughout the archduke's domain. Norris’s mandate for this group's work has been instrumental in insuring that the Imperium, once reunited, will be able to build upon the scientific and historical legacy of its predecessors.

Regnis and her colleagues accomplished their task in only two short years, and in 1119, SMART Library Data, LIC opened its doors as a semiprivate company, guided by a board appointed by the archduke. The library data in this book was generated by one of the SMART system's computers; it was automatically summarized to provide the highlights of a number of interesting topics.

Within this summary, the reader can find historical information on the Third Imperium and the events that led up to the divided Imperium today Information on all the major races of the Imperium and its surrounding environs is also here, complete with updates of alien activities since Strephon's untimely death. The most important minor races are summarized in this volume, too.

Several in-depth summary supplements round out the information here, giving background information on the united Imperium, its worlds, its emperors, and its nobility; the megacorporations and major merchant lines doing business in the Imperium, the activities and organization of the Imperial Interstellar Scout Service; and a special report on recent military technology and its use by the Imperial Navy in reuniting our worlds and punishing the usurper Dulinor.

While the SMART library data is as complete as humanly possible, it must be understood that a number of mitigating circumstances have interfered with this collection. Since the revolt of Vland Sector and its neighbors, the SMART researchers were unable to establish a reliable communications link between the Spinward Marches and some of the larger fixed libraries, such as the AAB on Vland and the Imperial Library on Capital. Despite this incapability, SMART Library Data is proud of the successes it has had in producing a work that should help all loyal Imperial citizens strive toward the establishment of the united Imperium and the coronation of its rightful Emperor.

References

This list of sources was used by the Traveller Wiki Editorial Team and individual contributors to compose this article. Copyrighted material is used under license from Mongoose Publishing or by permission of the author. The page history lists all of the contributions.

• Marc Miller. The Kinunir (Game Designers Workshop, 1979), 1-2.
• Marc Miller. Twilight's Peak (Game Designers Workshop, 1980), 41.
• Marc Miller. The Traveller Book (Game Designers Workshop, 1982), 152-156.
• Marc Miller. Imperial Encyclopedia (Game Designers Workshop, 1987), 16-51.
• Author & Contributor: Dave Dyson