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Guide to the Ned Chapin papers
X7438.2015  
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Collection Details
 
Table of contents What's This?
  • Processing Information
  • Access Restrictions
  • Publication Rights
  • Preferred Citation
  • Immediate Source of Acquisition
  • Biographical/Historical Note
  • Scope and Content of the Collection
  • Separated Material

  • Title: Ned Chapin papers
    Identifier/Call Number: X7438.2015
    Contributing Institution: Computer History Museum
    Language of Material: English
    Physical Description: 18.5 Linear feet, 9 record cartons, 7 periodical boxes, and 1 oversize folder
    Date (bulk): Bulk, 1955-1975
    Date (inclusive): 1955-1995
    Abstract: The Ned Chapin papers, ranging in date from 1955 to 1995, consist of published manuals and documentation, technical reports, conference proceedings, data sheets, brochures, books, and software. The bulk of the papers consist of manuals, technical documentation, and data sheets from a range of companies, while a quarter of the collection consists of APL documentation and publications. In addition, the collection contains conference proceedings, approximately 70 books about computer science, and a small amount of oversize posters. Also included is software on 8 inch floppy disks, 5.25 inch floppy disks, and digital cassette tapes. Articles, workbooks, lecture notes, and books by Ned Chapin are scattered throughout the collection.
    creator: Chapin, Ned

    Processing Information

    Collection surveyed by Sydney Gulbronson Olson, 2018.

    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.

    Preferred Citation

    [Identification of item], [Date], Ned Chapin papers, X7438.2015, Box [#], Computer History Museum.

    Immediate Source of Acquisition

    Gift of Elaine Chapin and Suzanne Chapin, 2015.

    Biographical/Historical Note

    Dr. Ned Chapin was a leader in the field of computer science and the discipline of software maintenance. Chapin was born on the Olympic Peninsula and grew up living in various locations in Washington, Oregon, and California. He attended Stanford University, and he received an MBA from the University of Chicago in 1949. He served in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers during the Korean War. He then earned a doctorate in Business Administration and Economics from the Illinois Institute of Technology in 1959, after which he moved to Menlo Park, California.
    Chapin worked as a Systems Analyst at SRI, researching new and improved techniques of systems analysis and systems design. After leaving SRI, Chapin became an independent consultant in the computer and information systems fields, operating his own company, InfoSci Inc., beginning in 1965. He also served as Professor, and later Professor Emeritus, of Information Systems in the California State University system. During his career, he published more than 250 papers and conference proceedings and wrote eight books, including An Introduction to Automatic Computers, published in 1955, and Computers: A Systems Approach, published in 1971. He was the founding editor of the Journal of Software Maintenance and Evolution.
    Dr. Chapin passed away on December 27, 2014 at the age of 87.

    Scope and Content of the Collection

    The Ned Chapin papers, ranging in date from 1955 to 1995, consist of published manuals and documentation, technical reports, conference proceedings, data sheets, brochures, books, and software. Additionally, articles, workbooks, lecture notes, and books by Ned Chapin are scattered throughout the collection.
    The bulk of the papers consist of manuals, technical documentation, and data sheets from a range of companies, such as Honeywell, IBM, Univac, Ramo-Wooldridge Corporation, Radio Corporation of America (RCA), Remington Rand, Litton, Bendix, Micro Computer Machines, Inc (MCM), Sylvania Electronic Systems, General Electric (GE), National Cash Register (NCR), Philco, Scientific Data Systems (SDS), Packard Bell Computer, and RAND Corporation. Examples of machines and systems represented include Honeywell 400 and 800; IBM System/360, 650, 1401, 1620, and 7090/94; Datatron; Univac I, II, III, 1110, and UNIMS; RW-300; GE-210, 655, and 400 series; MCM/70 and MCM system 800; RCA 601 and 301; NCR 315; MOBIDIC; Philco 2000; SDS 930 and 925; PB 250; and MonRobot Mark XI . Most of these manuals and reports range in date from the mid-1950s to mid-1960s. Other topics include flowcharts, decision tables, and COBOL.
    About a quarter of the collection consists of APL documentation and publications, including technical reports, newsletters, and manuals. Most of the APL manuals, which cover topics like APL\360, APL\1130, and Sharp APL, are from 1968 to the early 1980s. The collection also includes newsletters related to APL, including incomplete runs of Quote Quad, APL News, APL Market News, and Interlink. There are also conference proceedings from APL86 through APL92.
    The papers also contain conference proceedings such as the Eastern and the Western Joint Computer conference (1955-1960) and Proceedings of the Electronic Business systems Conference (1955), as well as publications such as the Punched Card Annual (1953-1958) and the Computer Industry Annual (1967-1970). There are also some periodicals and newsletters, such as Computer Digest (1966), CrossTalk (1992), Data Management (1972-1973), and Periodical Guide for Computerists (1975-1977).
    The collection includes approximately 70 books about computer science published between the 1960s and the 1990s, as well as a small amount of oversize posters.
    Additionally, the Chapin papers contain a small amount of software. Contents include nine 5.25 inch floppy disks, which include the Microsoft MS-DOS operating system version 5.0 windows series, as well as sixteen 8 inch floppy disks, most of which appear to be utilities for MCM and disks holding research data. There are also 108 MCM digital cassette tapes, including programs like multiple version of Text 700 as well as cassettes labeled "MCM APL tapes," numbered 33-152.

    Separated Material

    Hardware and periodicals were separated from the main collection. To view catalog records for separated material, search the CHM catalog at http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/search/ .

    Subjects and Indexing Terms

    Micro Computer Machines, Inc..
    APL (Computer program language)