Archival Work

Understanding where Rutgers is currently in 2018 with digital technology cannot be complete without understanding where it was in the past. This page contains pictures from the University Archives found in the basement of Alexander Library (see Staff page for more information on libraries at Rutgers) that puts into perspective the advances made by the university and what it means to be digital. 

Black and white photo capturing two people in front of a library card catalog
Image of card catalog system used to find books in the libraries, undated. Students would have to use this to find books they wanted to check out.  
Black and white photo of a man in a white shirt and dark pants, back to the viewer, leaning into a large, open-framed early computer with exposed wiring. To his left is a console with a typewriter-like device, and a small wooden step-ladder is to the far right of the machine.
Image of a man in a room with one of the University’s first computers, undated. Note the massiveness of the computer.
Black and white photo showing a man, identified as Joseph A. O'Rourke, Director, from Rutgers News Service, working on an early mainframe computer. He wears a white shirt and dark pants, leaning in to adjust controls on a small device on a cart. The open computer cabinet behind him reveals intricate layers of exposed wires, cables, and circuit boards.
Image of a man, Joseph A. O’Rourke, with an IBM computer
A vintage press release from Rutgers University, dated May 3, 1964, announces its new IBM 7040 computer. The text describes the computer containing 'more than 20 miles of wire, some 18,000 transistors and more than 75,000 diodes,' with an IBM engineer named George Ayuso in charge of maintenance. Blurry images of computer wiring and internal components are visible behind the document.
Caption from picture provided in archives – note materiality
Black and white photo of a retro computer terminal displaying a wireframe globe, with a hand typing on the keyboard.
Image of a Computer Monitor from Rutgers University of the globe. Notice there is no mouse, only a keyboard.
Ribbon cutting ceremony for the College Avenue Computing Center showing five smiling people, one of whom prepares to cut the ribbon
Grand opening of the College Ave Computing Center that still exists today from an unknown date but from the looks of it appears to have happened in the 1980’s/90’s. 
Leslie Murtha, in glasses, presents in a computer lab, holding papers. Students work at vintage desktop computers with CRT monitors behind her.
Leslie Murtha leading a student orientation in the early 2000’s, teaching students how to use computers at Rutgers.

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