Computers & Business Machines

Sheets, IBM, GSA Contract Prices for 1958 and 1959

Description

The Marchant Calculating Machine Company saved advertisements and trade literature describing competing products. These materials are price lists for IBM products sold under GSA contracts. The first set of sheets describes rates of monthly rental as of December 28, 1959, for IBM tabulating equipment (the IBM 402 and related punhces, card readers, sorter). The second gives 1959 prices for monthly rental of the IBM1401 mainframe computer and related equipment.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1958-1959

maker

General Services Administration

ID Number

1979.3084.155

catalog number

1979.3084.155

nonaccession number

1979.3084

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Badge, 1985 Federal Office Automation Conference

Description

This is a badge for Tom Chase, head conservator of the Freer Gallery of Art, admitting him to the Federal Office Automation Conference on October 30, 1985. The plastic badge is attached to a paper card giving further details.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

2000

2001

1985

maker

Christian Register

ID Number

2011.3014.04

nonaccession number

2011.3014

catalog number

2011.3014.04

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Microcite Electromechanical Scanner

Description

The Microcite was an information retrieval machine originally created in the 1950s. This version of the machine was patented in 1964 by Joshua Stern, who worked at the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institutes of Standards and Technology). Stern was in the Instrument Reference Services at the time, which was established in the early 1950s to gather and keep records of scientific instruments and their use. The Microcite was designed to more easily retrieve documents or records when searching through a large database, such as the National Bureau of Standards’ collection of abstracts for scientific instruments. The machine used punch cards and a document-matrix, a large microfilm-like roll of documents in a given collection, to search by key word. The Microcite was able to search millions of documents with its mechanized search process, and was used for many years at the Instrument Reference Services office itself. The Microcite in the Smithsonian’s collections came from the National Institute of Health, where it was used at the National Cancer Institute.

The Microcite resembles a large desk with a spot for the user to sit while using the machine. To retrieve any desired documents, the Microcite used what is called the “peek-a-boo” technique, a method of developed by Stern and his colleague W. A. Wildhack. Each punched card represented a particular index word while the position of each hole on a card referred to a document that was associated with that word. A user picked which index words they wanted to search for, stacked the cards associated with those words, and inserted them into the Microcite with the face of the stack facing outward, so that they could see the holes. The machine would then shine a light from behind the stacked cards so the user could easily see which holes remained unobstructed and therefore which documents were associated with all of the selected index words. The light shining, or “peeking,” out through the holes as an indicator of the relevant documents earned the method its name. After inserting the cards, users turned two control knobs on the front of the machine to position a cursor over an unobstructed hole and these knobs would, in turn, move the document matrix to the document associated with that punched hole. The document images were projected onto a screen in front of the user with the serial number for each document shown above, so that it could be more easily found in the future. This mechanization of information retrieval allowed people working with large numbers of records to locate information more easily and efficiently.

References:

“Microcite, an aid to more effective referencing.” National Bureau of Standards Technical News Bulletin, 41, 141 (1957).

Stern, Joshua. “An Application of the Peek-A-Boo Principle to Information Retrieval.” In Proceedings of the Symposium on Materials Information Retrieval: Dayton, Ohio, November 28, 1962, 93-115.

Stern, Joshua. Information Retrieval Apparatus. U.S. Patent 3,117,491 filed June 29, 1962, and issued January 14, 1964.

Stern, Joshua and W. A. Wildhack. “Chapter 6: The Peek-A-Boo System – Optical Coincidence Subject Cards in Information Searching.” In Punched Cards: Their Applications to Science and Industry, edited by R. S. Casey, J.W. Perry, M. M. Berry and A. Kent. New York: Rheinhold Publishing Co, 1958.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

ca 1964

maker

Stern, Joshua

ID Number

MA.314612.01

accession number

314612

catalog number

314612.01

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Library of Congress Punch Card

Description

The late 1960s were a time of rapid change in processes for cataloging and circulating books at the U.S. Library of Congress. Computers were introduced for preparing cataloging records for libraries across the nation and for tracking and distributing books sent out on interlibrary loan. This is one card used in the process. It relates to a volume entitled Apparatus and Experiment SD Int. by Weiss, which had call number QP461 W4 1916. It was checked out on 12-22-72 to Borrower OS500. A mark on the bottom edge of the card reads: HP/ECC-1294-0.

Location

Currently not on view

Date made

1972

1972

date made

1972

maker

Library of Congress

ID Number

2002.3058.02

nonaccession number

2002.3058

catalog number

2002.3058.02

Data Source

National Museum of American History

McGill Cash Register Patent Model

Description

This is the patent model for U.S. patent 350,986, for a cash register. It has a pine box for a base and a wooden case that covers the mechanism and the back part of the box. Four notched metal wheels, mounted vertically, represent tens of dollars, dollars, tens of cents, and cents. Rotating the wheels forward enters digits, which appear in windows to the left of the wheels.

Moving a knob on the front of the machine raises the case, which is hinged to the box at the back. This reveals the cash register mechanism, including a bell. It also shows the inside of the box, which contains several loose parts. One of these is a broken wooden disc that has a paper disc pasted to it with 26 letters around the edge (not in alphabetical order). The digits from 0 to 9 are listed next to 10 of the letters. This wheel may well not be part of the model. The patent tag with drawing and description is attached to the cash register.

William C. McGill (1812–1890) was born in Berks County, Pa., and spent his early years at sea. He went to California at the time of the Gold Rush, then to Australia, and then to St. Louis. In 1860, he moved to Cincinnati, and soon was assisting in organizing the first company of military volunteers in that city. After the Civil War, he was a guard at the District of Columbia jail until he resigned in 1882 because of poor health. He reportedly was the first patentee of the bell punch and devoted most of his later years to his inventions.

References:

W. C. McGill, "Cash Register," U.S. Patent 350,986, October 19, 1886.

Washington Post, August 23, 1890 (obituary).

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1886

patentee

McGill, William C.

maker

McGill, William C.

ID Number

MA.309344

accession number

89797

catalog number

309344

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Counter from a Hollerith Tabulating Machine

Description

This is a single counter from a Hollerith tabulating machine. It has square brass pieces on top and bottom, with a brass mechanism in between. A paper-covered metal dial on top is divided around the edge into 100 equal parts. Two hands are on the face of the dial. Advancing the small hand by 100 (one revolution) advances the large hand by one. Hence the counter can read up to 9,999.

A mark around the center of the dial reads: THE HOLLERITH (/) ELECTRIC TABULATING SYSTEM (/) PATENTED, 1889.

Compare to the dials on MA.312895.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

ca 1890

ID Number

MA.335638

catalog number

335638

accession number

1977.0114

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Library of Congress Punch Card

Description

The late 1960s and early 1970s were a time of rapid change in processes for cataloging and circulating books at the U.S. Library of Congress. Computers were introduced for preparing cataloging records for libraries across the nation, and for tracking and distributing books sent out on interlibrary loan. This is one card used in the process. It relates to a volume entitled Western Electric Co Info Care 3A Audio that had call No. RF151 WF. It was checked out on 12-12-72 to borrower OS500. A mark on the bottom edge of the card reads: HP/ECC-1294-0.

Location

Currently not on view

Date made

1972

maker

Library of Congress

ID Number

2002.3058.03

nonaccession number

2002.3058

catalog number

2002.3058.03

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Library of Congress Punch Card

Description

The late 1960s and early 1970s were a time of rapid change in processes for cataloging and circulating books at the U.S. Library of Congress. Computers were introduced for preparing cataloging records for libraries across the nation, and for tracking and distributing books sent out on interlibrary loan.This is one card used in the process. It relates to a volume entitled Western Electric Co Info Care 1A Audiometer that had call number RF151 W21. It was checked out on 12-12-72 to borrower OS500. A mark on the bottom edge of the card reads: HP/ECC-1294-0.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1972

maker

Library of Congress

ID Number

2002.3058.04

nonaccession number

2002.3058

catalog number

2002.3058.04

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Hollerith Tabulating Machine

Description

During the 1880s the engineer Herman Hollerith devised a set of machines for compiling data from the United States Census. Hollerith's tabulating system included a punch for entering data about each person onto a blank card, a tabulator for reading the cards and summing up information, and a sorting box for sorting the cards for further analysis. The tabulator is shown at the center in the photograph.

Hollerith's tabulating system won a gold medal at the 1889 World's Fair in Paris, and was used successfully the next year to count the results of the 1890 Census. His inventions formed the starting point of a company that would become IBM.

Location

Currently not on view

maker

Hollerith, Herman

ID Number

MA.312895

accession number

171118

catalog number

312895

Data Source

National Museum of American History

Hollerith Card Sorter

Description

During the 1880s the engineer Herman Hollerith devised a set of machines for compiling data from the U.S. Census. Hollerith's tabulating system included a punch for entering data about each person onto a blank card, a tabulator for reading the cards and summing up information, and a sorting box for sorting the cards for further analysis.

This third part of the system, the sorter, is shown on the right in the photograph. It is an oak box with 26 vertical compartments arranged in two rows. Each compartment has a brass cover that is held in place by an electric catch connected to the tabulator. The sorter is connected by a cable to the tabulator. Once a card is read by the tabulator, a compartment opens in the sorter, indicating where the card should be placed for further counting. The front and back sides of the sorter open so that one may remove stacks of cards from the compartments.

Location

Currently not on view

date made

1890

maker

Tabulating Machine Company

ID Number

MA.312897

accession number

171118

catalog number

312897

Data Source

National Museum of American History