Archive Facility Research Articles

An Advanced Measurement Concept: The Integrated Sensor

Abstract An integrated sensor is a complete measurement system that communicates its signals to a data collection and archival facility. The paper describes the concept, and how it developed from and relates to the more traditional systems. It includes a discussion of advantages and a summary of the characteristics that define an integrated sensor.

The research and publication programs of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc.

Abstract In 1973, the Board for International Broadcasting assumed responsibility for the operation of the joint corporate entity, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc. Broadcasting news, entertainment, and public affairs programs to Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union since 1950 and 1953 respectively, RFE/RL, Inc. has also maintained the largest research and analysis activity on these countries in the Free World. This information has been made widely available through serial and monographic publications, notably in the two weeklies Radio Free Europe Research (Eastern Europe) and Radio Liberty Research Bulletin (Soviet Union). Contract and independent researchers make use of rich archival and current affairs library research facilities in New York and Munich. As Federal funding has been maintained and expanded in recent years, facilities and capabilities have been greatly extended.

New Archival Facility

New Archival Facility

Implementation of a British computer system for laboratory data handling.

This paper describes the development and implementation of a small real-time British computer system for the handling of patient and test result data in the chemical pathology laboratories of the King's Health District (Teaching). Work destined for subsequent reporting by the computer system is entered by continuous on-line teletype. Test result data from multichannel analyzers are input using an on-line trace reader. Cumulative reports are printed both by line printer at the central laboratory and by on-line teletypes at two peripheral hospital laboratories. In a working day over 4000 new items of data are generated and 300-500 reports printed. The use of a trace reader as an inputing device and the method of employing a high capacity disk to give both speed of operation and limited archive facility are discussed.

New Jersey's New Archival Facilities

fall New Jersey is dedicating a new State LibraryArchives Building. Together with the new State Museum, including an auditorium and planetarium, and the new Administration Building of the Department of Education, it will constitute what has come to be known as the cultural center. The decision to erect these new buildings has presented an unparalleled opportunity to develop a unified educational-cultural center for New Jersey. The new center will, in effect, serve as a permanent memorial to New Jersey's 1964 Tercentenary. From the beginning of the State Tercentenary Commission's planning, a cultural center has been the chief project among its announced goals. This goal was realized when legislation in i960 authorized the Teachers' Pension and Annuity Fund to invest some of its capital in the construction of these buildings for the Department of Education. The total expenditure for the center will be $11^2 million, and the Library-Archives Building will cost approximately $2,800,000. This article is devoted primarily to provisions concerning the archival functions of the Division of the State Library, Archives and History and to the planning of the new LibraryArchives Building. As the new building will be a multipurpose one, however, it will be necessary to present some of the functions of the entire division in order to make clear the overall planning. The most challenging aspect in planning the new LibraryArchives Building was in the very nature of the division's operations. No other State, for example, has the same combination of functions as those of the New Jersey State Library. State legislation charges the Division of the State Library, Archives and History a part of the State Department of Education with the follow-

Archival Facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa. A Report Prepared for the C.C.T.A. By T. W. Baxter. London: C.C.T.A. Publication No. 78, mimeographed, 1959. Pp. 68.

Archival Facilities in Sub-Saharan Africa. <i>A Report Prepared for the C.C.T.A.</i> By T. W. Baxter. London: C.C.T.A. Publication No. 78, mimeographed, 1959. Pp. 68.

The Preservation of Government Publications

GOVERNMENT publications are a problem to the archivist because of their bulk, their often ephemeral nature, and their dispersion. The crux of the problem, however, is their bulk, for if they were less bulky they could be dealt with quite simply — at least for the future — by a fiat requiring the setting aside and preservation of one record copy of each publication. The number and hence the bulk of these publications vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction; they are, of course, greater in the Federal Government and in large nations and smaller in State governments and small nations. But since archival facilities — space, personnel, and funds — vary on the same basis, the problem is the same in all jurisdictions. Some hasty calculations of mine, covering book and pamphlet publications only (excluding, that is, press releases, directives, and the like) seem to indicate a total yearly production (one copy each) of about 3,000 linear feet — about threefifths of a mile — by the Federal Government alone. Microfilmed, this would amount to around 2,500 rolls of film per year. I do not vouch for these figures, but the problem of bulk is without a doubt a serious one. 1 The author is Chief Archivist of the Industrial Records Division of the National Archives. 2 These are my calculations, undertaken merely to see whether any credible estimate is possible, short of a careful study: Let us assume that the publications of an agency are on the average in proportion to its size. The present Federal civil list is about 2,400,000 persons; the National Archives and Records Service list, 400 persons. During recent years, therefore, the bulk of the total Federal publication activity should be 6,000 times the bulk of NARS publications. Because NARS publications — not including issuances — have been microfilmed, 1934-56 (22 years), a fairly good estimate of their bulk is possible. The 9 rolls of filmed National Archives publications represent about 32,000 pages. One year's publications are therefore about 1,500 pages, and this in turn (on the basis that about 3,000 bond sheets equal 1 linear foot) makes NARS publications about 1/2 linear foot per year. Multiplying by 6,000 for the Government as a whole yields the 3,000 linear-foot annual aggregate. On the microfilm side, if NARS publications come to 9 rolls for 22 years, the annual production rate equals 9/22 rolls; and this, multiplied by 6,000, comes to about 2,500 rolls for the Government as a whole.