Final answer:
The most common example of a direct access collection is the hard drive, with HDDs and SSDs enabling direct access to stored data, contrasting with sequential storage like magnetic tape.
Step-by-step explanation:
The most common example of a direct access collection is the hard drive (HDD or SSD). In computing, direct access storage devices (DASDs) allow data to be read and written as quickly as possible, without the need to sequentially search through data as with traditional tape storage. Direct access collections enable the computer system to jump straight to the piece of data it needs. The hard drive, whether it be a traditional spinning disk hard drive (HDD) or a solid-state drive (SSD), uses an addressing system that allows the read/write head or memory controller to go directly to where the data is stored. This is in contrast to sequential access storage, such as a magnetic tape, where the system must go through data in order until it reaches the desired information.