Russian, Soviet, and Eastern Bloc computing collection

Collection

Identifier: CBI 148

Staff Only

Scope and Content Note

The Russian, Soviet and Eastern Bloc Computing Collection consist of materials that provide a picture of the development of Soviet computing and record Soviet impressions of computer development within the United States. While the bulk of the materials are from the former Soviet Union and Russia, other countries are represented, including China, Korea, Poland and Czechoslovakia.

Materials include reports, journal articles, equipment reviews, manuals, equipment catalogs, photographs, trip reports, dictionaries, foreign language serials and books, dissertations and a small collection of microfiche. Serials in English were removed from the collection and cataloged.

Grey literature contains a compilation of foreign language publications and papers, newsletters, miscellaneous reports and reprints, abstracts, papers, correspondence, conference materials, newspaper articles and pamphlets. Of note is a timeline/machine comparison and equivalencies for Soviet and United States computers. (Box 46)

Languages represented in the collection include English, Russian, German and Italian. A smattering of other languages, such as Polish and Spanish can also be found.

Dates

Creation: 1956-1996

Creator

Goodman, Seymour E. (Person)
Ware, Willis H. (Person)
American Institute of Physics (Organization)

Language of Materials

English, Russian, German, Italian, and others

Access to materials:

Access to the collection is unrestricted.

Copyright:

Many of the materials in the collection are covered by prior copyright. The Charles Babbage Institute holds the copyright to the remainder of the materials in the collection. Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provisions of the copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).

Historical Note

The Mosaic Group was established by Seymour Goodman in 1977 at Princeton University and housed for many years at the University of Arizona. Mosaic (Multi-User On-Line System for the Analysis of International Computing) was an interdisciplinary collaborative effort to study the development and application of electronic digital computing in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe and the People’s Republic of China. Throughout the 1980s, Mosaic Group participants made between 3-5 trips annually to the USSR to gather information, conduct interviews, and visit pertinent sites. Together, they amassed an extraordinary amount of material on many technology areas, including robotics, mainframe computing and high-speed computers.

Extent

53 boxes (52 cubic feet)

Additional Description

Abstract

The Russian, Soviet and Eastern Bloc Collection consist of materials that provide a picture of the development of Soviet computing and record Soviet impressions of computer development within the United States. While the bulk of the materials are from the former Soviet Union and Russia, other countries are represented, including China, Korea, Poland and Czechoslovakia.

Arrangement of Collection

The collection is arranged into the following series:

Seymour Goodman Reprints and Notes, 1978-1990
Photographs, 1986-1989
Subject Files (Willis H. Ware), 1959-1968
Subject Files (Mosaic Group), 1962-1996
Technical Reports, 1975-1992
Translation Notes, undated
Trip Reports, 1957-1970, 1981-1992
Dictionaries and Glossaries, 1964-1992
Foreign Language Serials, 1972-1995
Foreign Language Books, 1960-1995
Russian Serials (complete English translations), 1963-1988
Reports, 1959-1993
Meeting/Conference Materials, 1960-1992
Product Literature, 1973-1989
Articles, 1956-1989
Manuals, 1975-1992
Microfiche, 1978-1982
Dissertations, 1972-1993
Grey Literature, 1960-1995

Acquisition:

Collection consists of Mosaic Group records donated to the Charles Babbage Institute by Seymour E. Goodman. Additional donations of subject files and grey literature by Willis Ware, and Russian computing books by the American Institute of Physics.