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Groups > alt.folklore.computers > #151434

Re: 100 boxes of computer books on the wall

Cross-posted to 2 groups.

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Louis Krupp wrote:
> On Tue, 15 Sep 2015 17:56:57 GMT, scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal)
> wrote:
>
>>Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> writes:
>>>Louis Krupp <lkrupp@nospam.pssw.com.invalid> wrote:
>>>> On Sat, 29 Aug 2015 19:21:52 -0600, Louis Krupp
>>>> <lkrupp@nospam.pssw.com.invalid> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> I've been helping rescue old computer books and manuals from a book
>>>>> recycle bin for the last twelve years or so.  I've found homes for
>>>>> some of them over the years, and I have about a hundred boxes up for
>>>>> adoption now.  These are 15"x12"x10" office supply boxes;  filled with
>>>>> books, they weigh about 40 pounds each, so we're talking about two
>>>>> tons of books.
>>>>>
>>>>> I'm interested in hearing from computer museums that have -- or want
>>>>> to start -- a library.  Some of these books will be worth keeping,
>>>>> others will be good for door prizes (old books on compiler design, VAX
>>>>> architecture manuals -- all cool stuff, but how many copies does one
>>>>> library need?), and others -- well, I can't complain if they turn out
>>>>> to be worthless (there was a time when I saved Pascal manuals).
>>>>>
>>>>> The books are free, and delivery is free.  Truck rental, fuel,
>>>>> lodging, diner food, transportation home ... I can take care of that.
>>>>> All you have to do, if you're the lucky recipient, is make sure that I
>>>>> have help unloading and that the boxes have a dry place to go. They'll
>>>>> stack five or six high, if that gives you an idea of how much space
>>>>> you'll need.
>>>>>
>>>>> (I'll need a receipt, too, so I can deduct the cost of the trip as an
>>>>> in-kind contribution.)
>>>>>
>>>>> My best contact address is louis dot krupp at geemail (properly
>>>>> spelled) dot com.
>>>>
>>>> While I'm pleased to see this (which I posted to
>>>> alt.folklore.computers) spark various conversations about ghosts of
>>>> computing past, I'm no closer to finding a home for the books.  The
>>>> Internet Archive is a possible last resort;  if all goes well, the
>>>> books would be stored for a few months or years before being scanned
>>>> (and then presumably destroyed).
>>>>
>>>> I've sent email to the Living Computer Museum in Seattle and to the
>>>> Retro-Computing Society of Rhode Island.  I've had no response.
>>>>
>>>> To add to what I said in my initial post:
>>>>
>>>> ==
>>>>
>>>> I have books on the Pick OS and one on the Operating System Toolbox,
>>>> the "software construction set you can use to build your own
>>>> multitasking Personal Operating System for IBM-PC, PC/XT and PC/AT
>>>> computers."  In 1986, Wendin published a manual for that and one on
>>>> PCVMS, which as far as I can tell was a VMS look-alike that ran on top
>>>> of PCDOS.
>>>>
>>>> Then there are books like _Inside Big Blue: Will the Real IBM Please
>>>> Stand Up?_, published in 1988 by Jack Martin, according the liner
>>>> notes an IBM employee from 1952 to 1987.  There's C. Gordon Bell and
>>>> Allen Newell's 1971 _Computer Structures: Readings and Examples_,
>>>> which includes a 1967 IEEE Transactions article called "System design
>>>> of a FORTRAN machine."
>>>>
>>>> ==
>>>>
>>>> I have a flickr account.  If I start tossing books back in the recycle
>>>> bin (where they'll have their covers sheared off and their pages
>>>> turned to pulp), I'll post pictures.  Stay tuned.
>>>>
>>>
>>>Surprisingly (to me), it's not easy to find a home for old books and
>>>magazines.  It's too bad you don't have a list.
>>
>>I think it depends on the book.  I can't imagine that either CHM or
>>the LCM would desire a copy of "how to use lotus 1-2-3".   They might,
>>however, be quite interested in a set of manuals for a Honeywell H6000/GE
600
>>or an Electrodata 220.
>
> I think a sort of triage would make sense -- some books would be
> keepers, some would be door prizes (you never know who might want a
> Lotus manual), and others could be turned to pulp with no loss to
> posterity.
>
> At this point, I don't plan to go through all 100+ boxes and catalog
> everything.  I've offered individual books and small sets of books on
> alt.folklore.computers before, and I've mailed them to people who've
> requested them (including the Retro-Computing Society of Rhode Island
> -- they wanted a book on analog computers), but it's a lot of work.
> I'd rather spend three or four days hauling the books somewhere and
> seeing the country.
>
> In general, I'd much rather give books to a museum or a library than
> to a private collector (like me).  When you and I go to that great
> used book store in the sky, what do you think is going to happen to
> our stuff?  It will be dumped in a book recycle bin, if we're lucky
> enough to be in a place that has one, or it will all wind up in the
> landfill.
>
> There are exceptions.  If I have to toss all of these books, I think I
> know who has dibs on the APL manuals.

ISTR hearing on the radio that the Smithsonian is collecting manuals
so that it will have a complete catalog of old hard/software docs.
Have you checked with them?

/BAH

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Re: 100 boxes of computer books on the wall Louis Krupp <lkrupp@nospam.pssw.com.invalid> - 2015-09-14 17:23 -0600
  Re: 100 boxes of computer books on the wall Stephen Thomas Cole <usenet@stephenthomascole.com> - 2015-09-15 06:12 +0000
    Re: 100 boxes of computer books on the wall Louis Krupp <lkrupp@nospam.pssw.com.invalid> - 2015-09-15 01:09 -0600
      Re: 100 boxes of computer books on the wall Stephen Thomas Cole <usenet@stephenthomascole.com> - 2015-09-15 08:04 +0000
  Re: 100 boxes of computer books on the wall "James Harris" <james.harris.1@gmail.com> - 2015-09-15 08:04 +0100
  Re: 100 boxes of computer books on the wall Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2015-09-15 16:19 +0000
    Re: 100 boxes of computer books on the wall scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2015-09-15 17:56 +0000
      Re: 100 boxes of computer books on the wall Louis Krupp <lkrupp@nospam.pssw.com.invalid> - 2015-09-15 13:41 -0600
        Re: 100 boxes of computer books on the wall "James Harris" <james.harris.1@gmail.com> - 2015-09-15 22:42 +0100
          Re: 100 boxes of computer books on the wall Louis Krupp <lkrupp@nospam.pssw.com.invalid> - 2015-09-16 06:15 -0600
        Re: 100 boxes of computer books on the wall jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> - 2015-09-16 12:54 +0000
          Re: 100 boxes of computer books on the wall Louis Krupp <lkrupp@nospam.pssw.com.invalid> - 2015-09-16 11:14 -0600
            Re: 100 boxes of computer books on the wall jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> - 2015-09-17 13:34 +0000
              Re: 100 boxes of computer books on the wall Louis Krupp <lkrupp@nospam.pssw.com.invalid> - 2015-09-21 15:26 -0600

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