Adlib Internet Server 5

Title
Simon Lavington collection of historical computer documents
Reference
LAV
Production date
1945 - 2001

Creator

Lavington, Simon Biography Biography
Computer history researcher Simon Lavington M.Sc., Ph.D., FIEE, FBCS, C.Eng is an Emeritus Professor of the University of Essex - Department of Computing and Electronic Systems. He currently lives in Sproughton, Suffolk. He graduated in Electrical Engineering from Manchester University in 1962. After obtaining a Ph.D. for automatic speech recognition using the Atlas computer, he became a member of Tom Kilburn’s MU5 high-performance design team. The computers built at Manchester in the 1960s and 70s achieved several world firsts. From 1986 he was a Professor of Computer Science at the University of Essex, specialising in Systems Architectures. His research interests focussed on the hardware and software for parallel information processing. One of his projects at Essex, the Intelligent File Store (IFS), attracted over £1 million in research grants and was awarded a British Computer Society Silver Medal for Technical Achievement. The IFS project was completed in 1996, after which he worked on parallel techniques for Knowledge Discovery in Databases ('data mining') and interactive video over congested IP networks. He retired in July 2002. He now pursues research into computer history, a hobby. He is particularly interested in early British computers built during the period 1945 – 1970. He has published history of computing books.

Scope and Content
The collection comprises: 10 box-files of documents relating to the general history of British-designed digital computers in the period 1945–1965, excluding Elliott, Manchester and Ferranti computers; 6 box-files of general Ferranti background information, and technical data on 10 types of Ferranti computers; 1 box-file containing a detailed study of requirements for the acquisition of a computer for Tube Investments (Group Services Ltd.).
Extent
17 box-files
Language
English
Archival history
Simon Lavington (SHL) began collecting historical computer documents in 1970. He has published five books and many refereed papers on the history of computing, specialising in British-designed computers of the period 1945–1965. He was part of the initiative that resulted in establishment of a National Archive for the History of Computing (NAHC), located in Manchester. Some of SHL’s material was passed to the NAHC when it opened in 1986. In that same year, SHL moved to the University of Essex where it continued collecting, becoming the Digital Archivist for the Computer Conservation Society, and leading the CCS’s ongoing Our Computer Heritage project. In 2015, Simon Lavington decided to sort, catalogue and box his remaining documents, and donate them to various permanent archives. There were approximately 117 box-files in total, of which 17 were donated to the Science Museum. For further information about the collection and its distribution to various repositories, please visit the 'Catalogue' section of the 'Our Computer Heritage' website: http://www.ourcomputerheritage.org/
Level of description
TOP
Repository name
Science Museum, London
Conditions governing access
Open Access
Conditions governing Reproduction
Copies may be supplied in accordance with current copyright legislation and Science Museum Group terms and conditions

Related object

Research Papers of Ken Johnson related to Ferranti Computers Notes Notes

System of arrangement
The system of arrangement established by the donor has been retained. The numbering system of the collection as devised by the donor has been recorded within the catalogue.