Amherst College. Academic Computer Center Records, 1970-1998 (bulk 1972-1985)
General International Standard for Archival Description
Amherst College Archives and Special Collections Amherst, MA
Finding aid encoded in NoteTab Pro. Encoded by Peter A. Nelson. 2013-02-05
Encoded Archival Description
Encoded Archival Description (EAD) Version 2002
collection
Academic Computer Center Records
Creation of Academic Computer Center Records
Time of Creation of Academic Computer Center Records
Amherst College. Academic Computer Center.
Biographical History for: Academic Computer Center Records
Historical Note The Academic Computer Center (later known as Academic Computing under the department of Information Technology) served the computational needs of faculty and students of Amherst College to support teaching and research. In 1977 it was located in Converse Hall under the direction of Paul J. Plourde, with Betty Steele acting as Academic Coordinator. Its operations were led by these administrators under the guidance of a Faculty Computer Committee, which in 1977 consisted of Peter Czap, Stephen George, Robert Grose, Charles Staelin and Alan Waggoner. The Center was staffed completely by student supervisors during its operating hours. These students were qualified to consult with users, write programs and maintain the operation of the system. The academic computer in use in 1977 was an IBM 1130 (16K), with a card reader, printer, plotter and two disk drives. Programming languages supported at that time were FORTRAN IV and 1130 Assembler. Faculty and students could also do timesharing with the CYPBER 74 mainframe computer located at the University of Massachusetts, connecting through a number of terminals on the Amherst campus. The college acquired a Digital VAX 11/780 computer in 1979. From that point on, academic computing at Amherst, as elsewhere, increasingly expanded into the curriculum of the college. The Academic Computer Center moved to the Seeley Mudd building in 1984.
Transferred to Archives and Special Collections, September 2012.
Scope and Contents of the Collection Newsletters, manuals, grant proposals, minutes, correspondence and other documents related to the operations of the Amherst College Academic Computer Center, under the direction of Betty Romer. Includes files on the planning, design and construction of the Seeley-Mudd Building, 1980-1984, which housed many of the offices of the department of Information Technology.
Access to portions of the records, as indicated in this finding aid, is restricted to the office of origin for a period of 50 years.
Requests for permission to publish material from the records should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.
Computer Center Office Files, ca. 1968-1972 (acc. #79-011)Computer Application Study, 1966 (acc. #78-032)General Files -- see subject headings Academic Computing; Computing; Technology
Prodessed 2012 Sep by Peter A. Nelson
Universities and colleges -- Computer networks.
lcsh
Romer, Betty.
lcnaf
Amherst College -- Computer networks.
series
SERIES 1: Newsletters, 1977-1999
Newsletters 1977, 1980-1994
Academic Computer Center Bulletin 1984-1987
Information Technology Newsletters 1998-1999
SERIES 2: Manuals
Introduction to APL 1970
Anybody's Guide to Runoff 1981 Sep
Graphics on the VAX 1982 Jan
Introduction to EDT (VAX editor) 1983 Sep
Introduction to FinalWord on the IBM PC Version 1984 Sep
Introduction to FinalWord on the IBM PC/XT Version, Revision 1985 Jun
Miscellaneous handouts n.d.
SERIES 3: Seeley-Mudd Building Project
Seeley-Mudd Building Project (3 folders) 1980-1984
SERIES 4: Grant Proposals, 1982-1987
Computing Literacy in Sciences 1980 Jul
IBM Computing Literacy 1981 Aug
VAX - Digital Equipment Corporation 1982 Oct
VAX - Digital Equipment Corporation 1987 Jan
SERIES 5: Faculty Computer Committee, 1978-1982
Minutes, reports, etc. (2 folders) 1978-1982
SERIES 6: General Administrative Records (ACCESS RESTRICTED)
Access restricted to office of origin for a period of 50 years from date of creation.
Budget and operations (2 folders) 1982-1988
Correspondence - Dean of Faculty 1981-1986
General correspondence (6 folders) 1973-1984
General correspondence (8 folders) 1984-1994