Item Details

Description

The scope of the Thomas J. Buckholtz, Raymond DeSaussure, and George Michael Computer Manual Collection spans the rise of the information age during the second half of the twentieth century. The Collection reflects, among other areas, mainframe computers, minicomputers, personal computers, input and output (I/O) devices, computer storage and memory devices, software development, supercomputing and networking materials. The Collection consists of over 2,000 documents. The bulk of the materials are computer manuals (40%) and marketing materials (30%). Also included are specifications, technical papers and technical reports from 1950 through 1990. The bulk of the materials cover 1960 to 1982. The Collection represents over 580 individual companies or institutions producing items ranging from peripheral devices, one-of-a kind machines to mass-produced computers. The Collection is organized alphabetically by the name of the originating institution or company. Some companies are represented by over a hundred folders while others may have only one folder. A folder holds one document if it is manual or many smaller items such as marketing brochures. Seventy-eight percent of these companies are represented with only one folder. On the other hand, the larger and longer-lived computer companies have much more documentation. Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) is the largest with 254 folders encompassing about one-eighth of the entire collection. The DEC materials span 1960 to 1982. International Business Machines (IBM) follows closely with 171 folders spanning over 30 years from 1954 to 1985. There is also a large amount of documentation for machines unique to Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. Additionally, Control Data Corporation (CDC) and Data General (DG) are well represented. Due to the large size of the collection, in lieu of a listing of every folder, included below is an alphabetical list of all the companies represented with an adjoining column containing the number of folders for that company.

Level of description

Collection

Date

1950-1990, 1960-1982

Publisher

Computer History Museum (Publisher)

Extent

76 linear feet in 62 boxes

Subject

Computers, Computer Industry, Computer Software, Computer Storage Devices, Computer Systems, Electronic Digital Computers

Collection title

Thomas J. Buckholtz, Raymond deSaussure, and George Michael Computer Manual Collection

Catalogue number

102634422