Guide to the John Dirnberger CDC collection

Title: John Dirnberger CDC collection

Identifier/Call Number: X7117.2014

Contributing Institution: Computer History Museum

Language of Material: English

Physical Description: 8.75 Linear feet, 7 record cartons

Date (inclusive): 1965-1988

Abstract: The John Dirnberger CDC collection consists of Control Data Corporation (CDC) technical reports, memos, manuals, and design documents, as well as a small amount of materials published by other companies. The materials range in date from 1965 to 1988. Much of the collection documents the development of the Cyber 180, which began in 1973 first as the Integrated Product Line (IPL) and later as the Cyber 80. This portion of the collection includes documents from the project library of the NCR/CDC Advanced Systems Laboratory during the mid 1970s as well as documents from the Canadian Development Division of CDC. The collection also holds publications by the CDC Technology Education Program, documentation pertaining to the CDC 6600 and Cyber 910 computer systems, and CDC employee newsletters. The remainder of the collection is made up of various other printed materials, such as manuals, technical reports, and conference proceedings.

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], John Dirnberger CDC collection, Lot X7117.2014, Box [#], Computer History Museum.

Gift of Al Kossow, 2014.

John Dirnberger was a Canadian engineer who worked at Control Data Corporation (CDC). He was involved in designing supercomputers at CDC, such as the Cyber 180.

The John Dirnberger CDC collection ranges in date from 1965 to 1988 and consists of Control Data Corporation (CDC) technical reports, memos, manuals, and design documents, as well as a small amount of materials published by other companies. Most of the CDC material is related to the development of the Cyber 180, which began in 1973 first as the Integrated Product Line (IPL) and later as the Cyber 80. The material traces the development of both the IPL (and later the Cyber 80 and 180) supercomputer and the Software Writer's Language (SWL), a programming language created for the Cyber 180 project. This portion of the collection includes documents from the project library of the NCR/CDC Advanced Systems Laboratory during the mid 1970s as well as documents from the Canadian Development Division of CDC. Types of materials include manuals, promotional materials, and data sheets, as well as internal technical reports, memos, design objective documents, and software language specifications. Other areas of note in this portion of the collection include publications by the CDC Technology Education Program for internal courses, documentation pertaining to the CDC 6600 and Cyber 910 computer systems, and CDC employee newsletters, such as Contact, Datum, Info, Current, Vantage, Realtime, and Systems & Services World. The remainder of the collection is made up of various other printed materials. These include reference materials, many of which came from the CDC Library, such as technical reports, programming language guides, and industry reports. There are also a small amount of periodicals, conference proceedings, and manuals published by other companies.

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/ .