Seth, The Smithsonian Institution Archives hold the records of the Museum Computer Network, which began the push towards computerizing museum collections here in the States in the 1960s. You can see the finding aids for these records by searching for "Museum Computer Network" at http://siarchives.si.edu/.
Also check out Kathy Jones-Garmil's article entitled, "Laying the Foundation: Three Decades of Computer Technology in Museums," in "The Wired Museum", Kathy-Jones Garmil, ed. 1997. American Association of Museums: Washington, DC. pp. 35-62. This article presents a sweeping view of cultural heritage computing in museums (not just US based). Two other early articles I know of are: Vance, David and Jack Heller, "Structure and Content of a Museum Data Bank", in "Computers and the Humanities", published by Queens College Press in Flushing, NY. There is no date on the reprint I have, but it is probably from the late 1960s or early 1970s. IBM. "Computers in the Museum" March 1973. This is listed as a manual written by David Vance based on a symposium of the same name sponsored by IBM. You might be particularly interested in its appendix, which summarizes museum computing initiatives in a number of museums (US and international). The reprint I have says that copies can be obtained by contacting an IBM representative in your area. (Wonder if that still holds true 36 years after publication!) IBM seems to have published it, and owns the copyright. Hope this helps. Where will your article appear? Diane > am currently writing an article on the history of the use of ICT >within the domain of cultural heritage (archives, museums, >libraries). In this context, I'm searching for documents from the >'70s onwards (books, articles, internal reports, etc) which >illustrate the discussion and implementation of computer applications >to document cultural collections (electronic cataloging, thesaurus >management, etc). Does anyone has some interesting archives regarding >these issues? Or do you know of publications on this subject? > >Kind regards, > >Seth van Hooland >ULB - Facult? de philosophie et lettres >Dpt SIC - fili?re STIC >Av. F.D. Roosevelt, 50 CP 123 >1050 Bruxelles >B?t. DC.11.203 >+32 2 650 40 80 >http://homepages.ulb.ac.be/~svhoolan/ > > >_______________________________________________ >You are currently subscribed to mcn-l, the >listserv of the Museum Computer Network >(http://www.mcn.edu) > >To post to this list, send messages to: mcn-l at mcn.edu > >To unsubscribe or change mcn-l delivery options visit: >http://toronto.mediatrope.com/mailman/listinfo/mcn-l -- Diane M. Zorich 113 Gallup Road Princeton, NJ 08542 USA Voice: 609-252-1606 Fax: 609-252-1607 Email: dzorich at mindspring.com
