Collection Size: 2.8 cubic feet (5 boxes)
Creator: USE, Inc.
By: Prepared by Kevin D. Corbitt, April 1991; revised by David P. Berge, August 2001 and Maria Plonski, October 2002.
Acquisition: The records were given to the Charles Babbage Institute by several donors.
Access: Access to the collection is unrestricted.
Copyright: The Charles Babbage Institute holds the copyright to all materials in the collection, except for items covered by a prior copyright (such as published materials). Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provisions of the copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).
Preferred Citation: USE, Inc. Records (CBI 20), Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Four prospective users of UNIVAC 1103A computers and Sperry-UNIVAC representatives met in Los Angeles in December 1955 to form UNIVAC Scientific Exchange (USE), a user's group for large scale UNIVAC scientific computers. Early in USE's history, the organization developed a USE compiler and distributed an extensive library of programs among its members.
USE adapted to the introduction of new computers in the Sperry-UNIVAC line by broadening its membership policies. In 1964, the term "UNIVAC Large-Scale Scientific Computers" was adopted to refer to a general type of computer rather than a specific model (the 1103A). In 1966, the word "Scientific" was removed from the phrase.
USE cooperated with the UNIVAC User's Association (UUA) [UUA later became America's UNIVAC User's Association] on several joint conferences in the mid-1960s. After 1968, each organization held separate conferences after a large membership growth in both groups. By 1980, USE (now USE, Inc.) had a membership of 375 organizations and held two conferences annually.
All of the documents in this collection are related to conferences held by USE. USE held a spring and a fall conference each year. The records held by CBI contain several gaps where documentation is lacking. The Hagley Museum and Library holds a more extensive collection of USE materials.
Subjects:
Automatic programming (Computer science)
Univac 1103A (Computer)
Univac 1105 (Computer)
Computer user groups
Organizations:
Sperry Corporation. -- Univac Division.
Consist of minutes from the USE meetings spanning 1955-1969. There are no minutes from USE meetings in 1963-1965.
Contains published proceedings from the 1961, 1965, 1986, and 1987 conferences.
Consist of copies of papers presented at USE conferences. Except for the initial 1957 volume, the papers are in published form. There are no technical papers in the collection from 1958-1971, 1975-1976, and 1978-1981. Included in this series is a five year index to conference notes and technical papers from 1978-1982.
Conference handouts prepared for participants of both conferences of UNIVAC users.
Special issue of a newsletter produced by Sperry-UNIVAC's Software Products Division. This issue includes a comparison of the IBM and UNIVAC user groups.