~ 2 ~ 
FILE MAINTENANCE -- An existing GIPSY file may be updated by 
adding new records, deleting records or changing the content of 
existing records. Changes may include adding a field, adding 
text to the end of an existing field, replacing an existing field 
or deleting a field. 
RETRIEVAL -- The user requests a search using a high level 
language to spe cify a Boolean logic statement made up of elements 
of the form: data field - re 1ational operator - data value. 
Text fields may be scanned for a match in any position and for 
any predefined number of occurrences of the data value. They 
can be searched on alphabetic limits (SAM through STE) and for 
pairs of words within a fixed distance of each other. Numeric 
fields can be searched on value (=, , , range) and two numeric 
fields in the same record can be compared. 
Search is performed against a single file in the sequential 
mode. Searches may be performed iteratively with an initial 
general search identifying a relevant subset of the total file 
and subsequent more specific searches being pe rformed against 
those records contained in the subset. 
Listings of complete data records or of selected data items 
may be requested from GIPSY following a search. It is possible 
to compute sums, counts and averages and to output maximum and 
minimum values for a field. Date may be sorted before it is 
printed. The output phase may also be used to create an output 
file consisting of fixed length, fixed fielded records for use 
in another system.—Harriet R. Meadow. 
FIRE AT SMITHSONIAN DESTROYS COMPUTER EXHIBIT 
[From Washington Post, Oct. 1, 1970] 
An early morning blaze on the third floor of the Smith¬ 
sonian Institution's Museum of History and Technology destroyed 
a computer exhibit yesterday. 
Damage was estimated by a fire marshal at "several hun¬ 
dred thousand dollars." Smithsonian officials later said 
they could not determine losses until they assessed the extent 
of structural damage caused by heat and water and the cost of 
restoring collector items damaged but not ruined in the fire. 
There were no injuries. 
By the time the blaze was extinguished, a computer ter¬ 
minal valued at $50,000 had been destroyed. Also lost in the 
fire were furnishings in the computer exhibit, at which visi- 
tors—mostly children--took turns operating a computer key¬ 
board to answer questions and compete in a mechanical game of 
tic-tac-toe. 
Fire marshals did not pinpoint the cause of the fire, but 
they indicated it may have resulted from a short circuit in 
the computer terminal. The main computer is located elsewhere, 
they said. 
