Guide to the Paul R. DesJardins collection

Finding aid prepared by Bo Doug, Kim Hayden, and Sara Chabino Lott

Processing of this collection was made possible through generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, administered through the Council on Library and Information Resources' Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives grant.

Computer History Museum

1401 N. Shoreline Blvd.

Mountain View, CA, 94043

(650) 810-1010

research@computerhistory.org

April 2017

Title: Paul R. DesJardins collection

Identifier/Call Number: X4578.2008

Contributing Institution: Computer History Museum

Language of Material: English

Physical Description: 12.5 Linear feet, 10 record cartons

Date (bulk): Bulk, 1956-1993

Date (inclusive): 1947-2003

Abstract: The Paul R. DesJardins collection documents DesJardins’s career as a programmer, with material dating from 1947 to 2003, and the bulk from 1956 to 1993. A large portion of the collection is related to the development of the time-sharing system RUSH, and to PL/I, the programming language used for RUSH. DesJardins was the principal designer of RUSH when he worked at Allen-Babcock Computing. Also included is a smaller amount of material created and collected by DesJardins when he worked at North American Aviation and Nucleus International. Lastly, the collection contains various publications collected by DesJardins that include technical papers, newsletters, conference and seminar proceedings, manuals, reference guides, specifications, and promotional material.

creator: DesJardins, Paul

Access Restrictions

The collection is open for research.

Publication Rights

The Computer History Museum (CHM) can only claim physical ownership of the collection. Users are responsible for satisfying any claims of the copyright holder. Requests for copying and permission to publish, quote, or reproduce any portion of the Computer History Museum’s collection must be obtained jointly from both the copyright holder (if applicable) and the Computer History Museum as owner of the material.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

Gift of Stephen des Jardins, via Al Kossow, 2007.

Biographical/Historical Note

Paul R. DesJardins is notable for his work as a programmer, particularly in aerospace applications, operating systems, time-sharing systems, databases, and other industry applications and programs. He graduated from St. Louis University in 1948 with a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical engineering, then studied numerical analysis at UCLA Extension. At the beginning of his career, DesJardins worked in the aerospace industry doing application programming, aircraft design, flight testing, and trajectory analysis for Chase Aircraft Company, Redstone Arsenal, the United States Army, and North American Aviation (NAA). DesJardins was with the army from 1950 to 1953, where he worked in missile trajectory analysis, aircraft flight safety, maintenance, and parts procurement. After the army, DesJardins was employed at NAA from 1954 to 1965 in the Missile Division, where he worked as the supervisor of flight test data analysis, and as the director of the Computer Services Division. He was involved in space flight analysis, celestial mechanics, lunar landing studies, and the NAA’s Hardware Committee. After leaving the NAA, DesJardins worked for Allen-Babcock Computing (ABC) from 1965 to 1972 as the vice president of systems and programming. While at ABC, he was the principal designer of RUSH (Remote Use of Shared Hardware), a time-sharing system for the IBM System/360 Model 50 that used the PL/I language, and contributed to the development of other instructions and applications for a variety of industries. DesJardins worked as a database application consultant from 1973 to 1986, then worked for Nucleus International (formerly Marcus) into the 1990s. While at Nucleus, DesJardins co-designed a bit vector coding method that was patented as the Bit String Compressor with Boolean Operation Processing Capability in 1991. Outside of work, DesJardins was active in the IBM user group SHARE as a program chairman and board of directors member. He was also a national Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) lecturer on application-specific programming in 1969. DesJardins passed away in 2007.

Scope and Content of the Collection

The Paul R. DesJardins collection contains material collected by DesJardins primarily during his work at North American Aviation (NAA), Allen-Babcock Computing (ABC), and Nucleus International. The records span 1947 through 2003 with the bulk of the collection being from 1956 to 1993. One main focus of the material in this collection is the development of the RUSH (Remote Use of Shared Hardware) time-sharing system, which DesJardins managed as principal designer at ABC. RUSH was built on IBM’s PL/I programming language, and this collection holds a significant amount of material on PL/I’s development--primarily by joint efforts between IBM and SHARE--as well. Forms of documentation in this collection for both RUSH and PL/I include technical reports, specifications, manuals, committee proceedings, and correspondence.

The collection’s records relating to DesJardins’ work at North American Aviation and Nucleus International are fewer in quantity compared to the Allen Babcock material, but they are useful for gaining a more comprehensive idea of DesJardins’ career. Types of material from NAA and Nucleus International include internal correspondence, manuals, training and course material, technical papers, notebooks, and internal committee reports, such as reports from NAA’s Hardware Committee.

Lastly, this collection holds various publications that DesJardins collected as a sort of reference library for different projects, interests, and work. Included are technical papers, newsletters, conference and seminar proceedings, manuals, reference guides, specifications, and promotional material. Much of these publications relate to software design and the use of programming languages, such as Fortran and BASIC. Many of the publications in this part of the collection were published by IBM. The collection’s earliest publication, a paper titled “Planning and Coding of Problems for an Electronic Computing Instrument,” was published in 1947 and written by Herman H. Goldstine and John von Neumann.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged into 6 series:

Series 1, Allen-Babcock Computing RUSH records, 1965-1974

Series 2, PL/I development records, 1964-1976

Series 3, North American Aviation records, 1954-1967

Series 4, Nucleus International Corporation records, 1984-2003, bulk 1984-1993

Series 5, Technical reports and newsletters, 1947-1995, bulk 1956-1977

Series 6, Manuals, product descriptions, and specifications, 1957-2001, bulk 1961-1991

Separated Material

Software was separated from the main collection: Lisa Interactive Assembler, DOS, Commodore Word Processing (WordPro), and Visualize from Norell Data Systems Corporation. A portion of periodicals and books were also separated and cataloged on an item-level. To view catalog records for separated material, search the CHM catalog at http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/search/ .

Subjects and Indexing Terms

Allen-Babcock Computing.

International Business Machines Corporation.

North American Aviation.

Nucleus International Corporation.

PL/I (Computer program language)

Programming (Computers)

RUSH (Remote Users of Shared Hardware)

Allen-Babcock Computing RUSH records, Series 1, 1965-1974

Series Scope and Content

This series contains material related to the RUSH time-sharing system that DesJardins collected and created while he was the vice president of systems design and programming at Allen-Babcock Computing. Material dates from 1965 to 1974. In 1965, Allen-Babcock contracted with IBM to study several computer technologies, including time-sharing with IBM’s PL/I programming language (for more information on PL/I, see “Series 2, PL/I development records”). From these studies, Allen-Babcock developed its RUSH (Remote Use of Shared Hardware) time-sharing system for the IBM System 360 Model 50 using the PL/I language. DesJardins was the principal designer of RUSH, in addition to many other instructions for the Model 50. This series is almost entirely made up of material related to the development and implementation of RUSH and its various applications. Material includes descriptions of RUSH and its applications, DesJardins’ design notebooks and handwritten notes, reports, program listings and libraries, plans and proposals, newsletters, announcements, manuals, specifications, promotional material, and customer leasing information. There is also material related to the development of Conversational Programming System (CPS)—a subset and extension of PL/I that Allen-Babcock contracted with IBM to develop—including reports, specifications, project proposals, handwritten notes and charts, program listings, drafts of reports with handwritten edits, and the contents of a design notebook. This series is arranged alphabetically by folder title.

102773388 Construction Cost Control application development 1971

102773382 Conversational Programming System (CPS) development 1965-1966

102773381 International Timesharing purchase 1973

102773391 Project proposals 1971-1972

102773389 RUSH applications 1968-1972

102773390 RUSH compilers 1968-1969

102773383 RUSH customer leasing information 1967-1969

102773384 RUSH development and descriptions 1966-1971

102773385 RUSH manuals and program libraries 1967-1974

102773386 RUSH newsletter and announcements 1967-1971

102773387 RUSH promotional material circa 1970

PL/I development records, Series 2, 1964-1976

Series Scope and Content

This series consists of material related to the development of the PL/I programming language. Material dates from 1964 to 1976. Development of PL/I was started in 1963 by a committee of IBM and SHARE personnel whose aim was to create one programming language that could be used across all computer applications, including commercial, scientific, and systems. It was first implemented as part of the development of the IBM System/360. DesJardins was a program chairman and member of the board of directors of SHARE, but it is unclear if he was involved with its development of PL/I or if he collected these items as reference material when he was working on PL/I-related programming design at Allen-Babcock Computing (See “Series 1, Allen-Babcock Computing records”). This series includes material from the early development of PL/I, including a 1964 report from the SHARE Advanced Language Development Committee that describes the then-unnamed language; 1969 technical reports from the IBM Vienna Laboratory, which was tasked with creating a complete specification; IBM specifications from 1965 and 1966; and reports from SHARE and ACM SIGPLAN PL/I working group meetings. Also included is SHARE correspondence from August to December 1965; most of this correspondence is related to general SHARE activities, but some is related to PL/I development. This series also contains material related to the standardization of PL/I, including several editions of reports that were created for ECMA TC10 and ANSI XJ31 to use as the basis for consideration of PL/I as a standard language. Lastly, this series contains manuals and guides for PL/I. This series is arranged alphabetically by folder title.

102773376 Correspondence and memoranda 1965-1970

102773379 ECMA and ANSI standardization 1968-1975

102773378 IBM specifications 1965-1966

102773377 Manuals 1967-1976

102773380 Technical papers and reports 1964-1969

North American Aviation records, Series 3, 1954-1967

Series Scope and Content

This series contains material that DesJardins collected and created during his employment with North American Aviation. Types of material include engineering manuals, course material, technical papers, notes, and committee reports. The earliest records in this series comprise a notebook compiling promotional material and manuals from various computers and companies. Some of the material in this notebook relates to DesJardins’ work as a Flight Test Engineer, supervising flight test data analysis. During his last years at North American Aviation, DesJardins participated in the company’s Hardware Committee, formed to make computer hardware recommendations. This series contains reports from the Hardware Committee, which reflect efforts in "digging out facts, plans, and opinions about the various suppliers and their wares by studying published manuals, contacting suppliers' representatives, visiting twelve computer installations in the aerospace industry and evaluating the significance of what had been learned." This series is arranged alphabetically by folder title.

102772908 Engineer's computing manuals 1957-1964

102764683 Fortran course material and program descriptions circa 1963

102772909 Hardware Committee reports 1964-1965

102773910 Notebook with promotional material and manuals for various computers 1954-1956

102773911 Technical papers from conference presentations 1963; 1967

Nucleus International Corporation records, Series 4, Bulk, 1984-1993 1984-2003

Series Scope and Content

This series is made up of correspondence, manuals, reports, patents, and presentation and course material collected and created by DesJardins during his work at Nucleus International Corporation. The largest parts of this series comprise manuals and learning guides, some written for internal use and others for an end-user audience. One early instructional reference guide from 1985, titled “Marcus Software Notebook,” contains a collection of memoranda and guidelines created at an organization called Marcus, which later became Nucleus International. Edward L. Glaser, who cofounded Nucleus, appears frequently in this series. One folder contains a short history of Nucleus written by Glaser, along with correspondence to DesJardins concerning a memorial tribute for Glaser. This series is arranged chronologically.

102773912 Correspondence, patents, and a history of Nucleus 1984-1986; 1990-1993

102773915 Marcus software notebook 1985

102773913 Database presentation and course material 1989

102773918 Nucleus promotional material and product overview 1989; 1991

102773914 Folded Bit Array (FBA)-based database performance analysis and tree alrogithms 1990; 2003

102773917 Nucleus manuals and learning guides 1990-1992

102773916 Microprogramming report circa 1990

Technical reports and newsletters, Series 5, Bulk, 1956-1977 1947-1995

Series Scope and Content

This series contains DesJardins’ collected technical papers, newsletters, conference and seminar proceedings, and technical reports. Many of these publications relate to software design, operating systems, microprogramming, systems analysis, and programming languages--especially Fortran. Publishers that appear frequently in this series include IBM and Bell Telephone Laboratories. Conference, seminar, and workshop proceedings cover presentations facilitated by SHARE, ACM, IBM, and University of Newcastle upon Tyne. One paper, titled “SHARE - A Eulogy to Cooperative Effort,” documents a presentation at the 1956 Electronic Business Systems Conference. The earliest paper in this series, “Planning and Coding of Problems for an Electronic Computing Instrument,” was published in 1947 and written by Herman H. Goldstine and John von Neumann. The newsletters with the highest numbers of editions in this series are the IBM Technical Newsletter, SIGMICRO newsletter of ACM’s Special Interest Group on Microprogramming, and the Bulletin of the ACM Special Interest Committee on Symbolic and Algebraic Manipulation (SICSAM). This series is arranged alphabetically by folder title.

102773919 ALTRAN and Interpreter technical papers and seminar 1967-1969

102773920 Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) publications and workshop proceedings 1966-1971

102774025 Circuit cellar INK : the computer applications journal 1990

102773928 High-speed-text-search design contract reports and specifications 1977

102773921 IBM and SHARE conference proceedings 1956; 1977

102773922 IBM technical newsletter 1964-1973

102774027 IEEE transactions on software engineering 1986

102773923 Microprogramming technical papers 1969-1974; 1978

102774026 PC techniques 1995

102774024 SIGMICRO newsletter 1975-1977

102773924 System Development Corporation (SDC) SP series reports 1960-1961

102773925 Technical papers and articles on programming, systems design, and operating systems 1947; 1959; 1961-1968; 1979

102773926 Technical reports, application report, and application notes on systems analysis and design 1968-1978

102773927 The Programmer's Letter, Data Processing Systems Bulletin, and other newsletters 1956-1959; 1977-1985

Manuals, product descriptions, and specifications, Series 6, Bulk, 1961-1991 1957-2001

Series Scope and Content

This series consists of manuals, reference guides, product descriptions, specifications, and small amounts of catalogs and promotional material collected by DesJardins throughout his career. A significant amount of the manuals in this series relate to programming languages, software design, and commercial software products. Much of the programming manuals focus on Fortran and BASIC. One software product, an operating system, that is heavily documented in this series is Reality, developed by Microdata Corporation. DesJardins helped develop Reality while working as a consultant. Manuals and promotional material documenting hardware also makes up a large portion of this series. The Apple II is a product that is referenced frequently, both the Apple II equipment and software designed for or adapted to the computer. The company with the most material in this series is IBM, with manuals, specifications, promotional material, and catalogs for both hardware and software products. The IBM System/360, OS/360, and IBM 700/7000 series are especially prevalent in these records. Other companies that are well-documented in this series include Microtec Research, Borland International, Control Data Corporation, and Honeywell Information Systems. This series is arranged alphabetically by folder title.

102773411 Advanced Micro Devices 1984; 1987

102773408 Apple 1978-1983

102773414 Borland SQL Link, Turbo Debugger 3.0, and ObjectVision 1991-1993

102773410 Burroughs B5000, B6500, and Algol 60 1961; 1969

102773402 CalComp 1968-1969

102773398 Control Data Corporation 1961-1965

102773415 Data General 1974-1975

102773407 Digital Research DR DOS 1991

102773930 Fortran IV, CAL, QED, and BASIC 1966-1968

102773406 General Electric GE-635, GE-625, and time-sharing programs 1964-1968

102773430 Hardware manuals 1961-1982; 1993

102773429 Hardware promotional material and specifications 1975-1981

102773395 Hewlett-Packard 1976-1982

102773403 Honeywell Level 62, Series 16, and Level 6 1970-1977

102773420 IBM 3704, 3705, 3735, and 3767 1971; 1974

102773426 IBM 407 and 1401 1957; 1965

102773418 IBM 700/7000 series 1957-1964

102773424 IBM applications and programs 1967-1993

102773422 IBM data processing applications 1966-1970

102773423 IBM data processing techniques 1961-1966

102773425 IBM general information manuals 1961-1983

102773421 IBM System/360 and OS/360 1966-1972

102773419 IBM System/370 models 145 and 155 1970; 1974

102773412 Intel i960, memory components, 80386, and 8008 circa 1973-1986

102773393 Interdata 1970-1971

102773396 Lear Sieger 7700A 1972-1973

102773932 Marketing management simulation 1960

102773392 Microdata Reality 1972-1984

102773404 Microtec ASM960, XRAY960, and MCC960 1990-1991

102773417 Mitre Interactive Microprogram Development System (IMDS) 1971-09

102773409 Nanos Systems reference cards 1981-1983

102773413 Norell Data Systems 1982; 1984

102773394 Pansophic Easytrieve 1975-1976

102773929 PDP-6 and microcomputers 1964; 1976

102773416 Philco 2000, ALTAC, and Philco 212. 1962

102773933 Product catalogs 1971; 1979; 1993

102773935 Programming and program design manuals 1961-1988

102773401 RCA Spectra 70 and COSMAC 1964-1967; 1979

102773405 SBC CALL/360 1969

102773399 Signetics 2650 1975

102773427 Software manuals 1961-2001

102773934 Software promotional material and program descriptions 1967-1973

102773397 Texas Instruments 960A and integrated circuits 1969; 1972

102773400 Tymeshare 1968

102773931 VisiTrend, VisiPlot, and VisiCalc 1979-1981

102773428 Word processing systems manuals and promotional material 1980-1983