Guide to the Dennis R. Allison collection
Finding aid prepared by Sydney Gulbronson Olson
Computer History Museum
August 2018
1401 N. Shoreline Blvd.
Mountain View, CA, 94043
(650) 810-1010
research@computerhistory.org
Title: Dennis R. Allison collection
Identifier/Call Number: X6225.2012
Contributing Institution:
Computer History Museum
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
12.79 Linear feet,
8 record cartons, 2 manuscript boxes, 1 half manuscript box, and 1 flat box
Date (inclusive): 1967-2000
Abstract: The Dennis R. Allison collection, ranging in date from 1967 to 2000, holds technical reports, publications, manuals, program
listings, promotional material, software, and A/V materials. The collection is wide-ranging, reflecting Allison's work as
a lecturer and consultant. About half of the collection consists of technical reports, course materials, dissertations, research
materials, and program listings from various universities, such as Stanford University, the University of Toronto, and Carnegie-Mellon
University. This part of the collection also includes program listings dated from 1967 to 1976. The other half of the collection
consists of mixed printed materials, including manuals, promotional materials, technical reports, conference proceedings,
and data sheets. Much of this part of this collection is made up of technical reports from the research arms of companies
such as Tandem Computing, Sun Microsystems Laboratories, Sony Computer Science Laboratory, International Business Machines,
NASA, Bell Laboratories, and Digital Equipment Corporation. Finally, there is a small amount of software, slides, and moving
images.
Collection surveyed by Sydney Gulbronson Olson, 2018.
The collection is open for research. However, the collection may require review by CHM staff before viewing.
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.
[Identification of Item], [Date], Dennis R. Allison collection, Lot X6225.2012, Box [#], Computer History Museum.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Dennis Allison, 2011.
Dennis R. Allison is a programmer, lecturer, consultant, and a cofounder of the People's Computer Company. In the early 1970s,
Dennis Allison, with Bob Albrecht and George Firedrake, founded the People's Computer Company in Menlo Park, CA. In 1975,
Allison wrote a specification for a microcomputer interpreter for the BASIC programming language, which could be used on machines
such as the MITS Altair 8800. This specification, known as Tiny BASIC, was published in the People's Computer Company newsletter.
Since 1976, Allison has been a lecturer at Stanford University in the Computer Science Department and the Computer Systems
Laboratory. He has served on editorial boards of several technical publications, such as Microprocessor Report, IEEE Computer
and IEEE Software. Additionally, Allison has been involved with a number of start-ups and established companies in roles such
as advisory board member, director, technical advisor, team member, and consultant.
Scope and Content of the Collection
The Dennis R. Allison collection consists of technical reports, publications, manuals, program listings, promotional material,
software, and A/V materials ranging in date from 1967 to 2000. As Allison was a lecturer and a consultant who worked on a
variety of projects, his collection reflects the wide-ranging nature of his work. About half of the collection consists of
technical reports, course materials, dissertations, research materials, and program listings from various universities. A
significant portion of this material is from Stanford University and contains technical reports published by the Computer
Science department that range in date from the late 1960s to the mid-1980s. There are also materials from events like the
Stanford Computer Forum. In addition, the collection contains technical reports and dissertations from the computer science
departments of other institutions, such as the University of Toronto, Carnegie-Mellon University, the University of California
at Berkeley, the University of Delaware, and the University of Karlsruhe. This part of the collection also includes program
listings dated from 1967 to 1976. The listings relate to topics like ALGOL and LISP, and several come from Stanford University.
There is also a small box of about thirty microfiche sheets from the 1970s, most of which came from the Stanford University
Libraries.
The other half of the collection consists of mixed printed materials, including manuals, promotional materials, technical
reports, conference proceedings, and data sheets. Much of this part of this collection is made up of technical reports from
the research arms of companies such as Tandem Computing, Sun Microsystems Laboratories, Sony Computer Science Laboratory,
International Business Machines, NASA, Bell Laboratories, and Digital Equipment Corporation. There are also internal reports
and presentations pertaining to the Alliance VHDL CMOS System, LSI Logic's Serial Link Megacell, and the Unidot Language System.
Manuals for a range of systems and software, such as the DEC System-20, InterTools, Framework, and PassKey can be found in
this portion of the collection. There are also reports, bulletins, and correspondence related to ALGOL, MARY, and machine
oriented languages. Finally, there are materials from conferences and professional groups, such as COOL Chips, IEEE, ACM,
the IFIP/TC-2 conference, and Microprocessor Forum.
Finally, there is a small amount of software, slides, and moving images. Items of note include a 1983 presentation distributed
by the ACM about computers and careers in computing and packaged software from Ashton Tate, Ansa, and Prentice Hall.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Carnegie-Mellon University. Computer Science Department.
Stanford University. Computer Science Department.
University of Toronto. Computer Systems Research Institute.