gLOSSARY
- Magnetic tape A storage medium made of flexible plastic strip tape covered with magnetic material on one side.
- Mail merge A word processing facility that uses data from a database to create multiple, individualised copies of a document.
- Main-memory See immediate access storage.
- Mainframes Very large capacity computers usually used at the centre of computer networks.
- MANs (metropolitan area networks) A metropolitan area network is a group of linked computers extended over an area such as a city or a university campus.
- Margins Space provided to the left, right, top and/or bottom of a page of text or data.
- Master files A master file is a permanent file which is kept up-to-date and stores the main information, summary data and key fields in the data.
- Megabyte 1024 consecutive kilobytes of data. See bytes.
- Menus Menus are lists of options from which to choose. Application programs use menus as an alternative to having to learn keyboard commands.
- Menu-driven Interface A Program interface where the user is provided with a list of operations.
- MICR (magnetic ink character recognition) A method of input that reads characters printed in magnetic ink. MICR is used by banks to process cheques.
- Microfilm/fiche An output medium consisting of plastic rolls (microfilm) or sheets (microfiche) on which information can be stored. It requires special reading equipment.
- Microphone Allows a user to speak to the computer to enter data and instructions into the computer.
- MIDI (musical instrument digital interface) In a MIDI system, data is input through a piano-type keyboard or through sensors which respond to being struck. A wide variety of sounds can then be generated electronically.
- MLA, which stands for Modern Language Association, is defined as a style of writing used for college-level writing.
- Mobile operator This is a mobile telecommunications company that provides wireless Internet GSM services for mobile device users. The operator gives a SIM card to the customer who inserts it into the mobile device to gain access to the service.
- Modem An input and output device that enables a computer to send data to, and receive data from, other computers.
- Mouse This is a hand held point and draw device that contains at least one button. It is used to click on user interface items such as menus, buttons and icons.
- Multi-tasking A method of organising computer systems so that several different tasks or applications can be accessed at the same time.
- Multi-user system A system which many users can access simultaneously.