Summary
Overview
Princeton
University. Office of Information Technology.
Office of Information Technology Records
1956-2009 (mostly 1980-2008)
47.85 linear feet, 39 boxes, 1 flat file drawer
Abstract
The Office of Information Technology oversees Princeton University’s academic
and administrative systems and the information technology infrastructure that
supports them. It also provides information technology products and services for
students, staff, faculty, and alumni of the University. The Office of Information
Technology Records consists of paper records and electronic media related to the
administration and implementation of information technology at Princeton
University.
Description
Description
The Office of Information Technology Records consists of papers and multimedia
related to the administration and implementation of information technology at
Princeton University. Key components of the collection include annual reports,
priorities committee reports, correspondence, brochures, user and systems
manuals, surveys and questionnaires on faculty and student computer usage,
research material on the history of computing at Princeton, slides and
photographs of computers and technology events around campus, and other records
related to computing services at Princeton.
This collection also includes material related to Computing and Information
Technology (CIT), the Computer Center, the Department of Administrative Systems
and Data Processing, the Computer Center Committee, the Committee on University
Data and Information Systems and other earlier technology departments and
activities at the University, all of which eventually consolidated into the
Office of Information Technology (OIT) in 2001.
Several prominent employees and administrators are represented in this
collection, including correspondence and presentations by former Vice President
of Computing and Information Technology Ira Fuchs and the office subject files
of Jon Edwards, who served as the Assistant Vice President of Computing and
Information Technology under Fuchs and later became the Coordinator of the
Office of Information Technology Institutional Communications and Outreach.
The collection as a whole contains similar records within different series, and
this is especially true with Subseries 1C: Staff Files, Subseries 2A: Subject
Files, Run I, and Subseries 2B: Subject Files, Run II. Please see the individual
series and subseries descriptions in the contents list for additional
information.
Collection Creator
History
The Office of Information Technology oversees Princeton University’s academic and
administrative systems and the information technology infrastructure that supports
them. It also provides information technology products and services for students,
staff, faculty, and alumni of the University.
In 1952 the University’s first computer was acquired and installed as part of a
military weapons analysis group. Four years later the department of Electrical
Engineering offered a course on digital computer programming for the first time. In
1961 the University’s first Computer Center was created in Beggs Hall of the
Engineering Quadrangle as a resource for students and faculty seeking to make use of
the young technology of the computer. The initial director was electrical
engineering professor Edward McCluskey, who held the position until 1966, when Roald
Buhler assumed the directorship.
By the time construction began in 1966 for a new Computer Center located at 87
Prospect Avenue, its functions were considered to be a University-wide scholarly
resource that members of the University community could use without charge.
Mirroring the upgrade in the facilities was an upgrade in computing equipment, as
the original IBM 7090 models in the computer center were replaced with the more
advanced IBM 360/91 and later the IBM 370/158, capable of far more complex tasks. As
computers became an increasingly common sight on campus and were integrated into
student life and academics, the Computer Center continued to expand in size and
importance. In 1971 Administrative Systems and Data Processing merged with the
Computer Center operation and in 1974 the Interactive Computing Graphics Laboratory
was established, which held a number of time-sharing terminals and supporting
equipment.
In 1984 faculty and student committees on computing recommended decentralizing
computing and the University received a Pegasus grant from IBM which allowed for
more workstations and the refining of the technical infrastructure. The position of
the Vice President for Computing and Information Technology was created in 1985 to
coordinate University-wide computing matters, and the office was comprised of four
major areas: Information Services, Financial and Contractual Services, Systems and
Operations, and Administrative Services and Information Systems. The hiring of Ira
Fuchs in this new position led to numerous improvements, including the expansion of
the computing staff, the orchestration of Tigernet as a campus telecommunications
infrastructure, and the renaming of the Computer Center as the Computing Center,
which reflected the movement from centralized to distributed computing. The Office
of Information Technology was created in 2001, and the new organization expanded the
administrative support system and goals of advanced scientific research of the
previous technical infrastructure into all aspects of teaching, research,
scholarship, and administration for the University.
Currently, the Office of Information Technology consists of six departments: Academic
Services, Administrative Information Systems, Enterprise Infrastructure Services,
Support Services, Administration and Finance, and Project and Consulting Services.
These departments enable the effective use of information technology in support of
Princeton University through various goals, including supporting the use and
development of information technology to enable academic innovation, providing
leadership in planning for the effective use of technology, providing a reliable
technology infrastructure, maintaining reliable employees, and enabling
communication and collaboration among information technology professionals and users
of information technology.
Collection History
Acquisition
Series 1-3 were transferred to the University Archives by Jon Edwards of the
Office of Information Technology in March 2010. [AR.2010.027].
The paper records and digital files from Series 1: Jon Edwards Office Files came
directly from Edwards's office and were generated by him during his tenure at
Princeton. Series 1 also includes material that was deposited in Edwards's
office by various staff members immediately before a departmental move from 87
Prospect Avenue to a new location at 701 Carnegie, on Canal Pointe Boulevard in
2010. Similarly, the files in Series 2 (with the exception of Subseries 2A) were
donated to the archive prior to the move in 2010. The subject files in Subseries
2A were housed together in the Office of Information Technology and were an
accumulation of records from the offices of numerous technology staff members
dating from the late 1950’s until 2007.
Series 4 was transferred to the University Archives in 2002. [AR.2002.006]
Series 5 was transferred to the University Archives by Ira Fuchs prior to 2000.
However, the instructional materials in Box 39 arrived as a separate accession
(AR.2012.147).
Archival Appraisal Information
Appraisal has been conducted in accordance with Mudd Manuscript Library
guidelines. Materials separated from this collection during processing in 2010
include duplicate journals and books already represented in Princeton University
Library.
Processing Information
This collection was processed by Nicole Milano in
2010. Finding aid written by
Nicole Milano in August 2010. Additions were processed by Christie Peterson with assistance from Eleanor Wright '14 in December 2010 and January 2011.
Princeton University Library Finding Aids 
View Entire Finding Aid
Download Finding Aid