Russian, Soviet, and Eastern Bloc computing collection
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
- 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)
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.
- American Institute of Physics
- Computers Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Computers - Russia (Federation) Subject Source: Local sources
- Computers - Russian - Dictionaries Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Electronic digital computers Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Information technology - Management Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Management information systems Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Robotron (Computer) Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Ware, Willis H.
- Title
- Russian, Soviet, and Eastern Bloc Computing Collection, 1956-1996.
- Author
- Prepared by Kevin Irving, October 2006.
- Date
- October 2006
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Collecting Area Details
Contact The Charles Babbage Institute Archives Collecting Area
Elmer L. Andersen Library
222 - 21st Avenue South
Minneapolis MN 55455
612-624-5050
cbi@umn.edu
