John Ptak Computer Science Book Collection
RBC 00006
Special Collections Research Center
7.0 Linear feet
1891-1987 (bulk 1940-1965)
The John Ptak Computer Science Book Collection contains pamphlets, reports, journal articles, correspondence, software and hardware documentation, and other written material as well as more than 500 monographs and serials which are individually cataloged. The individually cataloged items are identified in the NCSU Libraries catalog as part of the John Ptak Computer Science Book Collection; they are not included in this description. The collection dates range from 1891 to 1987, but the bullk of the material is from 1940-1965. Notable authors and organizations represented include Carlo Arcelli, the Association for Computing Machines (ACM), Yehoshua Bar-Hillel, Robert J. Baron, Gordon Becker, Harry Blum, Curtiss-Wright Corporation, Walter M. Elsasser, George E. Forsythe, General Electric, J. K. Hawkins, Hewlett-Packard, Alston S. Householder, International Business Machines (IBM), William Karush, Felix Klein, Clifford J. Maloney, Jacob Marschak, Franco Modigliani, Frederick Mosteller, Ulric Neisser, W. V. Parker, Hans Reissner, Remington Rand, Inc., and Heinz Von Foerster. Topics covered include aeronautics, artificial intelligence, biology, biometrics, communications, computer science, electrical engineering, immunology, information retrieval, linguistics, logic, machine translation, mathematics, statistics, and technocracy. The majority of the material is written in English, though German, French, and Russian are also represented.
John Ptak was the proprietor of J. F. Ptak Books, Maps, and Prints in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. The store specialized in used, rare, and antiquarian manuscripts, reprints, journals, maps, and prints in mathematics and the sciences.
For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Special Collections Research Center
Reference Staff.
14 archival boxes
Ptak, John F.
Restrictions to Access
This collection is open for research; access requires at least 24 hours advance notice.
Acquisitions Information
Gift of John F. Ptak, 2002 (Accession no. 2002-0025).
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], John Ptak Computer Science Book Collection, RBC 6, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
Copyright Notice
The nature of the NCSU Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NCSU Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.
The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.
Processing Information
Processed by Anna R. Craft,
2006 November 1
Encoded by Anna R. Craft,
2006 November 1
Historical Note
John Ptak was the proprietor of J. F. Ptak Books, Maps, and Prints in Georgetown, Washington, D.C. The store specialized in used, rare, and antiquarian manuscripts, reprints, journals, maps, and prints in mathematics and the sciences.
Scope and Content Note
The
John Ptak Computer Science Book Collection contains pamphlets, reports, journal articles, correspondence, software and hardware documentation, and other written material as well as more than 500 monographs and serials which are individually cataloged. The individually cataloged items are identified in the NCSU Libraries catalog as part of the John Ptak Computer Science Book Collection; they are not included in this description. The collection dates range from 1891 to 1987, but the bullk of the material is from 1940-1965. Notable authors and organizations represented include the
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM),
Carlo Arcelli,
Yehoshua Bar-Hillel,
Robert J. Baron,
Gordon Becker,
Harry Blum, the
Curtiss-Wright Corporation,
Walter M. Elsasser,
George E. Forsythe,
General Electric,
J. K. Hawkins,
Hewlett-Packard,
Alston S. Householder,
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM),
William Karush,
Felix Klein,
Clifford J. Maloney,
Jacob Marschak,
Franco Modigliani,
Frederick Mosteller,
Ulric Neisser,
W. V. Parker,
Hans Reissner,
Remington Rand, Inc., and
Heinz Von Foerster. Topics covered include
aeronautics,
artificial intelligence,
biology,
biometrics,
communications,
computer science,
electrical engineering, the
history of computing,
history of science,
immunology,
information retrieval,
linguistics,
logic,
machine translation,
mathematics,
physics,
statistics, and
technocracy. The majority of the material is written in English, though German, French, and Russian are also represented.
Organization of the Collection
This collection is arranged in five series: Articles, Reports, Journals, and Pamphlets; Correspondence; Commercial Pamphlets and Instruction Manuals; Other Papers; and Oversize Diagrams.
Materials Cataloged Separately
The John Ptak Computer Science Book Collection also includes more than 500 monographs and serials which are cataloged individually. They are identified in the NCSU Libraries catalog as part of the John Ptak Computer Science Book Collection. To find these materials, please search the
catalog.
Arcelli, Carlo
Association for Computing Machinery.
Bar-Hillel, Yehoshua
Baron, Robert J.
Becker, Gordon
Blum, Harry
Curtiss-Wright Corporation.
Elsasser, Walter M., 1904-
Forsythe, George E. (George Elmer), 1917-
General Electric.
Hawkins, J. K.
Hewlett-Packard Company.
Householder, Alston Scott, 1904-
International Business Machines Corporation.
Karush, William
Klein, Felix, 1849-1925
Maloney, Clifford J., 1910-
Marschak, Jacob, 1898-1977
Modigliani, Franco
Mosteller, Frederick, 1916-2006
Neisser, Ulric
Parker, W. V.
Ptak, John F.
Reissner, Hans J. (Hans Jacob), 1874-1967
Remington Rand, Inc.
Von Foerster, Heinz, 1911-2002
Aeronautics
Articles
Artificial intelligence
Biology
Biometry
Computer science
Computers--History
Electrical engineering
Immunology
Information retrieval
Journals (periodicals)
Letters (correspondence)
Linguistics
Logic
Machine translation
Manuals (instructional materials)
Mathematics
Pamphlets
Physics
Science--History--20th century
Statistics
Technocracy
Articles, Reports, Journals, and Pamphlets
RBC 00006 Series 1
6.5 Linear feet
1891-1987
13 archival boxes
Scope and Contents note
The John Ptak Computer Science articles, reports, journals,and pamphlets series contains printed material focusing on computers, mathematics, and the sciences, dating from 1891 to 1987. It is primarily made up of articles and reports written and published between 1940 and 1965.
A-Ande
1
1
1944-1971
Andf-Az
1
2
1941-1987
Association for Computing Machines (ACM)
1
3
1963-1967
Baer-Becker
1
4
1950-1975
Benson-Bookstein
1
5
1950-1975
Borko-Butler
2
1
1946-1967
Bibliographies
2
2
1947-1964
Ca-Che
2
3
1924-1966
Chr-Cz
2
4
1948-1978
Conference, Meeting, and Symposium programs
3
1
1938-1963
D
3
2
1914-1973
E
3
3
1958-1981
Elsasser, Walter
3
4
1964-1977 and undated
F
4
1
1914-1977
Foerster, Heinz von
4
2
1960-1969 and undated
Ga-Gi
4
3
1920-1967 and undated
Go-Greer
4
4
1950-1964
Greg-Gu
4
5
1950-1961
Ha-Hawes
5
1
1949-1966
Hawkins-Hays
5
2
1939-1965
He-Ho
5
3
1930-1968
Hu-Hy
5
4
1949-1963 and undated
Householder, Alston S.
5
5
1955-1958
I
5
6
1893-1954 and undated
Iowa State University Statistical Lab Annual Report
6
1
1944-1950
Iowa State University Statistical Lab Annual Report
6
2
1950-1962
Iowa State University Statistical Lab Statlab Review
6
3
1951-1957
J
6
4
1958-1960 and undated
Ka-Ke
6
5
1949-1967
Kl-Koc
6
6
1897-1962
Kon-Ku
7
1
1936-1961
L
7
2
1929-1961
Ma-Mar
7
3
1891-1972
May-Mil
7
4
1929-1969 and undated
Mit-Mor
7
5
1900-1964
Mos-Mu
8
1
1950-1966
Maloney, Dr. Clifford J. - published material
8
2
1957-1958
Maloney, Dr. Clifford J. - "A Remington Rand Punched Card Data Retrieval System" - presented at the annual meeting of the American Documentation Institute, held at the Governor Clinton Hotel in New York on December 28 and 29, 1956
8
3
1956
Marschak, Jacob
8
4
1962-1976
Na
8
5
1955-1981
Ne-Ni
8
6
1942-1966
No-Nu
8
7
1942-1955
Neisser, Ulric
9
1
1958-1963
New York State College of Agriculture - Biometrics Unit Annual Reports
9
2
1950-1957
O
9
3
1950-1959
Pa-Pe
9
4
1896-1972
Ph-Pu
9
5
1899-1979
Popular Science volume 148, number 1
9
6
January, 1946
Ra-Rob
9
7
1921-1971
Rog-Ru
10
1
1953-1962 and undated
Sa-Sc
10
2
1923-1966 and undated
Se-Si
10
3
1949-1964 and undated
So-St
10
4
1929-1969
Ta-To
11
1
1932-1963 and undated
Tu
11
2
1955-1961 and undated
"Technocracy" pamphlets
11
3
1919-1933 and undated
U
11
4
1955-1963
University of Pennsylvania, "Transformations and Discourse Analysis Projects"
11
5
1960 and undated
University of Wisconsin-Madison meeting, "The Computing Lab in the University"
11
6
1955
V
11
7
1952-1958 and undated
Wa-Wo
11
8
1911-1962 and undated
Wr-Wu
12
1
1955-1964 and undated
Y-Z
12
2
1953-1964
Arcelli, Carlo and Gabriella Sanniti di Baja, "A Technique for Shape Analysis"
14
1
1987
Foerster, Heinz Von, "ARTORGA (Artificial Organisms)" letter
14
2
1963
George, F.H., "ARTORGA - Semantic Machines"
14
3
1962
Hilditch, Judith and Denis Rutovitz, "Algorithms for Chromosome Recognition"
14
4
undated
Correspondence
RBC 00006 Series 2
0.5 Linear feet
1900-1966
1 archival box
Scope and Contents note
The John Ptak Computer Science correspondence series contains letters written between 1900 and 1966. Writers include Curtis J. Maloney and Hans Reissner.
Various correspondence
12
3
1900-1966
Maloney, Curtis J. - correspondence
12
4
1952-1962
Reissner, Hans - correspondence
12
5
1943-1945
Commercial Pamphlets and Instruction Manuals
RBC 00006 Series 3
0.5 Linear feet
1936-1972
1 archival box
Scope and Contents note
The John Ptak Computer Science commercial pamphlets and instruction manuals series contains software and hardware documentation and sales lists from various companies dating from 1936 to 1972. The bulk of the material is from IBM, though material from companies such as General Electric and Hewlett-Packard is also represented.
A-H
12
6
1936-1972 and undated
IBM manuals
12
7
1936-1963
IBM manuals
12
8
1965-1968 and undated
K-U
13
1
1965 and undated
Other Papers
RBC 00006 Series 4
0.5 Linear feet
1913-1962
1 archival box
Scope and Contents note
The John Ptak Computer Science other papers series contains printed and handwritten material. Dated material ranges from 1913 to 1962; many papers are undated.
Historical Material
13
2
1947-1954 and undated
Reports and papers with no titles or authors
13
3
1952-1962 and undated
Handwritten notes
13
4
1949-1954 and undated
Maps, diagrams, and other material
13
5
1913-1962 and undated
Oversize Diagrams
RBC 00006 Series 5
0.5 Linear feet
undated
1 archival box
Scope and Contents note
The John Ptak Computer Science oversize diagrams series contains approximately 60 diagrams depicting computer circuits and processes. These documents are undated and arranged in the order in which they were received.
Computer diagrams, folder 1
14
5
undated
Computer diagrams, folder 2
14
6
undated
Computer diagrams, folder 3
14
7
undated
Computer diagrams, folder 4
14
8
undated
Computer diagrams, folder 5
14
9
undated
Computer diagrams, folder 5
14
9
undated
Computer diagrams, folder 6
14
10
undated
Computer diagrams, folder 7
14
11
undated
Computer diagrams, folder 8
14
12
undated
Computer diagrams, folder 9
14
13
undated
Computer diagrams, folder 10
14
14
undated
Computer diagrams, folder 11
14
15
undated
Computer diagrams, folder 12
14
16
undated
Computer diagrams, folder 13
14
17
undated
Computer diagrams, folder 14
14
18
undated