Mark Halpern collection

Last revised August 22, 2006 by Paul McJones.

Overview

The collection includes a set of manuals, technical reports, preprints and reprints, and ephemera collected by Halpern during his career as a computer programmer starting at IBM in 1957. There are also copies of some published works, correspondence, and notes by Halpern. Although some of those have been removed for study by Halpern, he plans to copy them and return the originals to the collection. (In the listings below, these items are marked "[Removed by Halpern.]".)

It is contained in 15 boxes totaling about 17 linear feet.

Halpern's contact information is:

Mark Halpern
510-482-0337
markhalpern@iname.com
http://www.rules-of-the-game.com/

The manuals include:

The reports, preprints, and reprints include a variety of subjects including:

There are a number of copies of proceedings from a variety of conferences: ACM national meetings, AFIPS, IFIP, military computing, internal IBM programming symposia, etc.

There are two copies of a 9-track magnetic tape from an IBM VM/370 system containing files documenting a system that Halpern worked on in the 1970s.

An interesting ephemeral item is a wooden clothes hanger from The Langdon Hotel, which played a role in Backus's original Fortran project.

Box 1

Small box - 6 linear inches.

Reference cards

Bulletins, manuals

Software - third-party

Articles, papers, reports

Memos from IBM Programming Research Group, 1957

Brochures

Correspondence

Notes

 [All items in this subsection removed by Halpern.]

Ephemera

Box 2

IBM file box - 12 linear inches including 3-ring binders.

Notebook labeled "Compiler Theory"

Notebook labeled "Monitors and Operating Systems"

Notebook labeled "Syntax-Driven Things"

Notebook labeled "List Processing"

Notebook labeled "Primitives"

Notebook labeled "IPL-V"

Box 3

Fellowes record box - 16 linear inches including a few three-ring binders.

Notebook: 704 programming course materials

Notebook labeled "7090 IOCS / IBJOB"

Notebook labeled "7090 Fort IV FAP / MAP"

See also boxes 6 and 9.

Box 4

Small box - 9 linear inches. Several of the documents in this box have damage from dampness and/or insects.

Box 5

Small box - 8 linear inches. Several of the documents in this box have damage from dampness and/or insects.

Notebook labeled "Chris Shaw's stuff"

Notebook labeled "Ed Lowry's Compiler"

Box 6

IBM file box - 14 linear inches.

Artificial Intelligence

Command and control

Computational linguistics

Publications by Mark Halpern

Programming languages

Other

Box 7

Packing box - 18 linear inches including a number of three-ring binders.

Notebook labeled "JOVIAL"

Notebook labeled "Studies in Data structures"

Notebook labeled "NSA"

See also TEMAC items by Mary D'Imperio in Box 6.

Notebook labeled "Pascal"

Notebook labeled "Modula-2"

Box 8

IBM file box - 14 linear inches.

Box 9

Packing box - 17 linear inches.

Notebook labeled "Macros [Processors and Uses] I"

Notebook labeled "Macros [Processors and Uses] II"

Notebook labeled "Macros [Processors and Uses] III"

Notebook labeled "Macros [Processors and Uses] IV"

Other macro

Notebook labeled "Debugging Systems and Tools"

Other debugging

BLISS-10

Conference proceedings

Other

Box 10

Packing box - 14 linear inches.

Notebook labeled "Salary Data and Surveys"

Other salary data

Notebook labeled "Tymshare Policies and Procedures Manual"

IBM Document Composition Facility

Security

Machine translation

See also Box 2, Notebook labeled "Syntax-Driven Things".

Other

Machine Oriented Languages Bulletin

Three-ring binder containing:

Notebook labeled "COMIT, SNOBOL, NELIAC"

COMMIT

SNOBOL

NELIAC

Box 11

Packing box - 13 linear inches. Algol and Fortran items; see also Algol implementation manual in box 5.

Algol Bulletins

Numbers 1-31, in two three-ring binders labeled 1-20 and 21-. Halpern was a subscriber for most or all of this period.

Notebook labeled "Algol"

Notebook labeled "Fortran Vol. I[?]"

Notebook labeled "Fortran Vol. II[?]"

Additional Fortran item

Box 12

IBM file box - 15 linear inches.

Notebook labeled "Barnett's SHADOW and related programs"

SSMTG = Solid State and Molecular Theory Group (from Programming Note Number 29, below).

Other

IBM System/360 manuals [see also Box 4]

Notebook labeled "Sprint 8" (Fairchild Systems Technology)

Notebook labeled "Software" (more Sprint 8 documents)

Notebook labeled "Memos" (more Fairchild Systems Technology)

Various memos from Mark Halpern, 1970.

Other memos from Kay Magleby, P. McKenzie, Anthony Smith, Paul Mahan, B.E. Hirsch, V. DiMucci, Dennis Terrell, Bob Meyer.

Envelope from E.F. Codd to Mark Halpern postmarked June 27, 1974

Halpern was employed by Tymshare, at 10231 Bubb Road, Cupertino, California.

NLS manuals

Box 13

Small box - 10 linear inches.

Notebook labeled "English"

First 8 pages of paper by Yngve have insect damaging with some impact on legibility.

Annual Review in Automatic Programming

Halpern was co-editor (first with Christopher J. Shaw of SDC, later Bill McGee of IBM) of the Annual Review in Automatic Programming for three volumes, in 1969, 1971, and 1974. See also box 15 for a set of copies of the journal.

Other

Box 14

Bankers box - 17 linear inches.

Early personal computer items

Atalla

There is one large folder of materials from Atalla, a maker of point of sales terminals (later bought by Tandem), circa 1982.

Tandem Computers

These folders contain various combinations of interoffice memoranda, data sheets, policy and procedures manuals, and draft documentation from the period when Halpern was employed at Tandem as a technical writer from 1987 to 1992.

 

Time-Binding Software *****

Box 15

Office Depot box - 18 linear inches.

Notebook labeled "UNCOL"

7090 Programmer's Manual, Bell Telephone Laboratories

Standards bodies

Miscellaneous manuals, memos, papers, reports, journals

Annual Review in Automatic Programming

See also box 13 for papers from Halpern's time as co-editor. Several issues, including:

Ephemera

Magnetic Tapes (10" reel, 0.5 inch tape - 9 track?)