Contents and Arrangement Expanded View
Online

Collection Overview

Creator:
Princeton University. Office of Information Technology
Title:
Office of Information Technology Records
Repository:
Princeton University Archives
Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/8s45q8851
Dates:
1956-2017 (mostly 1980-2008)
Size:
40 boxes, 1 folder, 16 items, and 1 websites
Storage Note:
  • Mudd Manuscript Library (scamudd): Boxes 1-40; S-000239
Language:
English

Abstract

The Office of Information Technology oversees Princeton University's academic and administrative systems and the information technology infrastructure that supports them. It also provides information technology products and services for students, staff, faculty, and alumni of the University. The Office of Information Technology Records consists of paper records and electronic media related to the administration and implementation of information technology at Princeton University.

Collection Description & Creator Information

Scope and Contents

The Office of Information Technology Records consists of papers and multimedia related to the administration and implementation of information technology at Princeton University. Key components of the collection include annual reports, priorities committee reports, correspondence, brochures, user and systems manuals, surveys and questionnaires on faculty and student computer usage, research material on the history of computing at Princeton, slides and photographs of computers and technology events around campus, and other records related to computing services at Princeton.

This collection also includes material related to Computing and Information Technology (CIT), the Computer Center, the Department of Administrative Systems and Data Processing, the Computer Center Committee, the Committee on University Data and Information Systems and other earlier technology departments and activities at the University, all of which eventually consolidated into the Office of Information Technology (OIT) in 2001.

Several prominent employees and administrators are represented in this collection, including correspondence and presentations by former Vice President of Computing and Information Technology Ira Fuchs and the office subject files of Jon Edwards, who served as the Assistant Vice President of Computing and Information Technology under Fuchs and later became the Coordinator of the Office of Information Technology Institutional Communications and Outreach.

The collection as a whole contains similar records within different series, and this is especially true with Subseries 1C: Staff Files, Subseries 2A: Subject Files, Run I, and Subseries 2B: Subject Files, Run II. Please see the individual series and subseries descriptions in the contents list for additional information.

Arrangement

This collection is organized into the following three series based on the original locations of the documents:

Collection Creator Biography:

Princeton University. Office of Information Technology

The Office of Information Technology oversees Princeton University's academic and administrative systems and the information technology infrastructure that supports them. It also provides information technology products and services for students, staff, faculty, and alumni of the University.

In 1952 the University's first computer was acquired and installed as part of a military weapons analysis group. Four years later the department of Electrical Engineering offered a course on digital computer programming for the first time. In 1961 the University's first Computer Center was created in Beggs Hall of the Engineering Quadrangle as a resource for students and faculty seeking to make use of the young technology of the computer. The initial director was electrical engineering professor Edward McCluskey, who held the position until 1966, when Roald Buhler assumed the directorship.

By the time construction began in 1966 for a new Computer Center located at 87 Prospect Avenue, its functions were considered to be a University-wide scholarly resource that members of the University community could use without charge. Mirroring the upgrade in the facilities was an upgrade in computing equipment, as the original IBM 7090 models in the computer center were replaced with the more advanced IBM 360/91 and later the IBM 370/158, capable of far more complex tasks. As computers became an increasingly common sight on campus and were integrated into student life and academics, the Computer Center continued to expand in size and importance. In 1971 Administrative Systems and Data Processing merged with the Computer Center operation and in 1974 the Interactive Computing Graphics Laboratory was established, which held a number of time-sharing terminals and supporting equipment.

In 1984 faculty and student committees on computing recommended decentralizing computing and the University received a Pegasus grant from IBM which allowed for more workstations and the refining of the technical infrastructure. The position of the Vice President for Computing and Information Technology was created in 1985 to coordinate University-wide computing matters, and the office was comprised of four major areas: Information Services, Financial and Contractual Services, Systems and Operations, and Administrative Services and Information Systems. The hiring of Ira Fuchs in this new position led to numerous improvements, including the expansion of the computing staff, the orchestration of Tigernet as a campus telecommunications infrastructure, and the renaming of the Computer Center as the Computing Center, which reflected the movement from centralized to distributed computing. The Office of Information Technology was created in 2001, and the new organization expanded the administrative support system and goals of advanced scientific research of the previous technical infrastructure into all aspects of teaching, research, scholarship, and administration for the University.

Currently, the Office of Information Technology consists of six departments: Academic Services, Administrative Information Systems, Enterprise Infrastructure Services, Support Services, Administration and Finance, and Project and Consulting Services. These departments enable the effective use of information technology in support of Princeton University through various goals, including supporting the use and development of information technology to enable academic innovation, providing leadership in planning for the effective use of technology, providing a reliable technology infrastructure, maintaining reliable employees, and enabling communication and collaboration among information technology professionals and users of information technology.

Collection History

Acquisition:

Series 1-3 were transferred to the University Archives by Jon Edwards of the Office of Information Technology in March 2010. [AR.2010.027].

The paper records and digital files from Series 1: Jon Edwards Office Files came directly from Edwards's office and were generated by him during his tenure at Princeton. Series 1 also includes material that was deposited in Edwards's office by various staff members immediately before a departmental move from 87 Prospect Avenue to a new location at 701 Carnegie, on Canal Pointe Boulevard in 2010. Similarly, the files in Series 2 (with the exception of Subseries 2A) were donated to the archive prior to the move in 2010. The subject files in Subseries 2A were housed together in the Office of Information Technology and were an accumulation of records from the offices of numerous technology staff members dating from the late 1950's until 2007.

Series 4 was transferred to the University Archives in 2002. [AR.2002.006]

Series 5 was transferred to the University Archives by Ira Fuchs prior to 2000. However, the instructional materials in Box 39 arrived as a separate accession (AR.2012.147).

In 2019 an Operating System/360 Chart in series II was deaccessioned because of its oversize format and the information is available elsewhere.

Appraisal

Appraisal has been conducted in accordance with Mudd Manuscript Library guidelines. Materials separated from this collection during processing in 2010 include duplicate journals and books already represented in Princeton University Library.

Processing Information

This collection was processed by Nicole Milano in 2010. Finding aid written by Nicole Milano in August 2010. Additions were processed by Christie Peterson with assistance from Eleanor Wright '14 in December 2010 and January 2011. Digital materials in Series 2D was processed by Elena Colon-Marrero in July 2015

Access & Use

Conditions Governing Access

The collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Single copies may be made for research purposes. To cite or publish quotations that fall within Fair Use, as defined under U. S. Copyright Law, no permission is required. The Trustees of Princeton University hold copyright to all materials generated by Princeton University employees in the course of their work. For instances beyond Fair Use, if copyright is held by Princeton University, researchers do not need to obtain permission, complete any forms, or receive a letter to move forward with use of materials from the Princeton University Archives.

For instances beyond Fair Use where the copyright is not held by the University, while permission from the Library is not required, it is the responsibility of the researcher to determine whether any permissions related to copyright, privacy, publicity, or any other rights are necessary for their intended use of the Library's materials, and to obtain all required permissions from any existing rights holders, if they have not already done so. Princeton University Library's Special Collections does not charge any permission or use fees for the publication of images of materials from our collections, nor does it require researchers to obtain its permission for said use. The department does request that its collections be properly cited and images credited. More detailed information can be found on the Copyright, Credit and Citations Guidelines page on our website. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us through the Ask Us! form.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

For preservation reasons, original analog and digital media may not be read or played back in the reading room. Users may visually inspect physical media but may not remove it from its enclosure. All analog audiovisual media must be digitized to preservation-quality standards prior to use. Audiovisual digitization requests are processed by an approved third-party vendor. Please note, the transfer time required can be as little as several weeks to as long as several months and there may be financial costs associated with the process. Requests should be directed through the Ask Us Form.

This collection contains materials acquired from an unknown desktop computer. Researchers are responsible for meeting the technical requirements needed to access these materials, including any and all hardware and software.

Credit this material:

Office of Information Technology Records; Princeton University Archives, Department of Special Collections, Princeton University Library

Permanent URL:
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/8s45q8851
Location:
Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library
Seeley G. Mudd Manuscript Library
65 Olden Street
Princeton, NJ 08540, USA
(609) 258-6345
Storage Note:
  • Mudd Manuscript Library (scamudd): Boxes 1-40; S-000239