Optical card processing apparatus with means for determining a relative position between head and card

An information processing apparatus comprising:

• a head for effecting at least one of recording of information on and reproducing of information from a recording medium;
• a carriage loaded with the recording medium thereon and movable in a moving direction with respect to said head;
• a first detector for determining an amount of shift between a position of the recording medium loaded on said carriage and a reference position on said carriage in the moving direction of said carriage, and for outputting a shift amount determination signal corresponding to the shift amount;
• a second detector for detecting that said carriage is positioned at a first predetermined position, in the moving direction, and for outputting a position detection signal;
• and
• an output circuit for receiving the shift amount determination signal and the position detection signal, and for outputting a signal indicating that the recording medium is positioned at a second predetermined position, with respect to said head, based on the shift amount determination signal and the position detection signal.