Item Details

Description

The Ned Chapin papers, ranging in date from 1955 to 1995, consist of published manuals and documentation, technical reports, conference proceedings, data sheets, brochures, books, and software. Additionally, articles, workbooks, lecture notes, and books by Ned Chapin are scattered throughout the collection. The bulk of the papers consist of manuals, technical documentation, and data sheets from a range of companies, such as Honeywell, IBM, Univac, Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation, Radio Corporation of America (RCA), Remington Rand, Litton, Bendix, Micro Computer Machines, Inc (MCM), Sylvania Electronic Systems, General Electric (GE), National Cash Register (NCR), Philco, Scientific Data Systems (SDS), Packard Bell Computer, and RAND Corporation. Examples of machines and systems represented include Honeywell 400 and 800; IBM System/360, 650, 1401, 1620, and 7090/94; Datatron; Univac I, II, III, 1110, and UNIMS; RW-300; GE-210, 655, and 400 series; MCM/70 and MCM system 800; RCA 601 and 301; NCR 315; MOBIDIC; Philco 2000; SDS 930 and 925; PB 250; and MonRobot Mark XI . Most of these manuals and reports range in date from the mid-1950s to mid-1960s. Other topics include flowcharts, decision tables, and COBOL. About a quarter of the collection consists of APL documentation and publications, including technical reports, newsletters, and manuals. Most of the APL manuals, which cover topics like APL\360, APL\1130, and Sharp APL, are from 1968 to the early 1980s. The collection also includes newsletters related to APL, including incomplete runs of Quote Quad, APL News, APL Market News, and Interlink. There are also conference proceedings from APL86 through APL92. The papers also contain conference proceedings such as the Eastern and the Western Joint Computer conference (1955-1960) and Proceedings of the Electronic Business systems Conference (1955), as well as publications such as the Punched Card Annual (1953-1958) and the Computer Industry Annual (1967-1970). There are also some periodicals and newsletters, such as Computer Digest (1966), CrossTalk (1992), Data Management (1972-1973), and Periodical Guide for Computerists (1975-1977). The collection includes approximately 70 books about computer science published between the 1960s and the 1990s, as well as a small amount of oversize posters. Additionally, the Chapin papers contain a small amount of software. Contents include nine 5.25 inch floppy disks, which include the Microsoft MS-DOS operating system version 5.0 windows series, as well as sixteen 8- inch floppy disks, most of which appear to be utilities for MCM and disks holding research data. There are also 108 MCM digital cassette tapes, including programs like multiple version of Text 700 as well as cassettes labeled “MCM APL tapes,” numbered 33-152. Biographical/Historical Note Dr. Ned Chapin was a leader in the field of computer science and the discipline of software maintenance. Chapin was born on the Olympic Peninsula and grew up living in various locations in Washington, Oregon, and California. He attended Stanford University, and he received an MBA from the University of Chicago in 1949. He served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the Korean War. He then earned a doctorate in Business Administration and Economics from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1959, after which he moved to Menlo Park, California. Chapin worked as a Systems Analyst at SRI, researching new and improved techniques of systems analysis and systems design. After leaving SRI, Chapin became an independent consultant in the computer and information systems fields, operating his own company, InfoSci Inc., beginning in 1965. He also served as Professor, and later Professor Emeritus, of Information Systems in the California State University system. During his career, he published more than 250 papers and conference proceedings and wrote eight books, including An Introduction to Automatic Computers, published in 1955, and Computers: A Systems Approach, published in 1971. He was the founding editor of the Journal of Software Maintenance and Evolution. Dr. Chapin passed away on December 27, 2014 at the age of 87.

Level of description

Collection

Date

1955-1995, 1955-1975

Extent

18.5 linear feet in 9 record cartons, 7 periodical boxes, and 1 oversize folder

Subject

APL (Computer Program Language)

Collection title

Ned Chapin papers

Credit

Gift of Elaine Chapin and Suzanne Chapin

Catalogue number

102776622

Lot number

X7438.2015