With respect to computers, the term access has three traditional meanings, each relevant to the conveyance of data or the ability to view data.

First, as a verb meaning to use, programs can access memory, for example, meaning the programs can read data from or write data to the computer's main memory. Specifically, access often refers to the reading of data from or the writing of data to a mass storage device--a device capable of storing a large amount of information, such as a floppy disk, hard disk, optical disk, or a tape. The time required to locate a single byte of information on a mass storage device is called the access time.

Access to a database can involve a so-called superdatabase in the Database Access Definition Markup Language. Besides gaining access to a database, searches for specific information is possible.

Second, as a noun, the term access...