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International Business Machines: Difference between revisions

Added more info to Library of Congress papers location, including extent and finding aid link; Edited IBM Archives address and phone number; Updated IBM Archives info and source; updated active dates
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'''International Business Machines Corporation''' (IBM) is a major US-based computer company.


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'''International Business Machines Corporation''' (IBM) was founded as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in 1911 and renamed International Business Machine Corporation in 1924. It specialized in punch card equipment until World Work II, but had built up a patent position in electronics. IBM, nick-named "Big Blue," then became dominant in computer hardware and software in the second half of the 20th century.
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ORGANIZATION:
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International Business Machines Corporation (IBM)
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ACTIVE DATES:
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1911-present</td>
IBM equipment was very widely used in information technology infrastructure, including for information storage and retrieval systems.
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ADDRESS:
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For more on IBM see "IBM" ''Wikipedia'' [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM].
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E-MAIL:
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This article is limited to IBM's direct involvement in documentation and information retrieval services.  
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PERSONS INVOLVED:
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<b>[[Howard Hathaway Aiken|Howard H. Aiken]]</b>; <b>[[Steve Furth]]</b>; <b>[[Manfred Kochen]]</b>; <b>[[Hans Peter Luhn|Hans P. Luhn]]</b>; <b>[[Herbert Marvin Ohlman|Herbert M. Ohlman]]</b>; <b>[[Israel A. Warheit]]</b>; <b>[[Herbert S. White]]</b>.
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MAJOR PROJECTS:
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== Contributions to documentation ==
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=== Microfilm rapid selectors ===
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IBM promptly acquired rights to the US Patent for Emanuel Goldberg's "Statistical machine" (USP 1,838,389. 29 December 1931) after Goldberg assigned his rights to Zeiss Ikon. James W. Bryce, IBM's Chief Scientist, was developing IBM's patent position in this area including his own statistical machine patent (USP 2,124,906. July 26, 1938). (Buckland 2006, 161).
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OTHER INFORMATION:
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Incorporated as Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in 1911; renamed International Business Machine Corporation in 1924<sup>1</sup>


For more information, see the IBM homepage:  http://www.ibm.com/
=== Keyword in Context (KWIC) === 
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A concordance is a index to all of the words in a book, excepting insignificant words enumerated on a "stop-list. Concordances to the Bible pointing to chapter and verse are well-known form.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_concordance] In 1864 British librarian, Andrea Crestadoro proposed indexing using words in text as a rapid and economical method for indexing. 
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SOURCE:
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1. IBM. (2023, September 14). In ''Britannica''. https://www.britannica.com/topic/International-Business-Machines-Corporation</td>
At IBM [[Hans Peter Luhn]] recognized punch card systems were suitable for this routine method for generating indexes and, importantly, that valuable explanation could be provided showing adjacent text immediately before and after each term , thereby adding context. This became known a Keyword in Context (KWIC), with variant display formats "out of context" (KWOC) and "alongside context" (KWAC). KWIC and its variants were widely used until computing became a lot less expensive. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Key_Word_in_Context]
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=== Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI) ===
"Selective Dissemination of Information" (SDI) refers tocurrentawarness systems for automatically notifying  readers of documents that match their stated interests. This also developed and popularized by [[Hans Peter Luhn]][https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_dissemination_of_information]


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Individuals involved include: [[Howard Hathaway Aiken|Howard H. Aiken]] [[Steve Furth]]  [[Manfred Kochen]]  [[Hans Peter Luhn|Hans P. Luhn]]  [[Herbert Marvin Ohlman|Herbert M. Ohlman]] [[Israel A. Warheit]]  [[Herbert S. White]].
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PAPERS AT:<br>
LOCATION
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IBM Archives
 
2455 South Road
 
Building 04-02; CSC12
 
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
 
845-433-2759 </td>
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PAPERS DATES:
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1890-present, bulk 1940-1985</td>
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SIZE:
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10,000 cubic feet of print documentation; 15,000 films/videotapes; 1500 business machines</td>
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INCLUDES:
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The IBM Archives documents the growth and development of one of the world's leading technology companies. Strengths of the collection include: The Thomas J. Watson Sr. papers, corporate communications (press releases, publications, advertisements), annual reports, product documentation, photographs, and A/V materials. Also of note is an extensive collection of precision business equipment ranging from 18th-century adding machines to 19th-century clocks to 20th-century mainframe computers. Limited public access.
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SOURCE:
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Society of American Archivists. (2017, October 27). ''Directory of corporate archives''. https://www2.archivists.org/groups/business-archives-section/directory-of-corporate-archives-in-the-united-states-and-canada-i-k
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PAPERS AT:<br>
LOCATION #2
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Library of Congress
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PAPERS DATES:
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1850-1982 (bulk 1910-1927).
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SIZE:
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13.6 linear feet</td>
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INCLUDES:
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Herman Hollerith Papers
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SOURCE:
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Library of Congress
 
Finding aid at [https://findingaids.loc.gov/exist_collections/ead3pdf/mss/1997/ms997007.pdf#:~:text=The%20papers%20of%20Herman%20Hollerith,papers%20were%20given%20by%20Mrs. https://findingaids.loc.gov/exist_collections/ead3pdf/mss/1997/ms997007.pdf#:~:text=The%20papers%20of%20Herman%20Hollerith,papers%20were%20given%20by%20Mrs.]
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Revision as of 17:15, 11 January 2025

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) is a major US-based computer company.

International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) was founded as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company in 1911 and renamed International Business Machine Corporation in 1924. It specialized in punch card equipment until World Work II, but had built up a patent position in electronics. IBM, nick-named "Big Blue," then became dominant in computer hardware and software in the second half of the 20th century.

IBM equipment was very widely used in information technology infrastructure, including for information storage and retrieval systems.

For more on IBM see "IBM" Wikipedia [1].

This article is limited to IBM's direct involvement in documentation and information retrieval services.

Contributions to documentation

Microfilm rapid selectors

IBM promptly acquired rights to the US Patent for Emanuel Goldberg's "Statistical machine" (USP 1,838,389. 29 December 1931) after Goldberg assigned his rights to Zeiss Ikon. James W. Bryce, IBM's Chief Scientist, was developing IBM's patent position in this area including his own statistical machine patent (USP 2,124,906. July 26, 1938). (Buckland 2006, 161).

Keyword in Context (KWIC)

A concordance is a index to all of the words in a book, excepting insignificant words enumerated on a "stop-list. Concordances to the Bible pointing to chapter and verse are well-known form.[2] In 1864 British librarian, Andrea Crestadoro proposed indexing using words in text as a rapid and economical method for indexing.

At IBM Hans Peter Luhn recognized punch card systems were suitable for this routine method for generating indexes and, importantly, that valuable explanation could be provided showing adjacent text immediately before and after each term , thereby adding context. This became known a Keyword in Context (KWIC), with variant display formats "out of context" (KWOC) and "alongside context" (KWAC). KWIC and its variants were widely used until computing became a lot less expensive. [3]

Selective Dissemination of Information (SDI)

"Selective Dissemination of Information" (SDI) refers tocurrentawarness systems for automatically notifying readers of documents that match their stated interests. This also developed and popularized by Hans Peter Luhn[4]

Individuals involved include: Howard H. Aiken Steve Furth Manfred Kochen Hans P. Luhn Herbert M. Ohlman Israel A. Warheit Herbert S. White.