There
was no Internet yet, but in the mid-1970s came the first chances to
offer data online, not just via tapes and cards sent through the post.
Derwent World Patent Index was one of the first databases to become available this way (on fledgling services like SDC Orbit and Dialog). There
were many challenges being a pioneer, but the era of online
information was underway -- a decade before the World Wide Web.
As each new breakthrough followed, Monty ensured that Derwent stayed at the leading edge of information organisation and delivery.