[SIGCIS-Members] Looking for earliest mainframe contracts and computer contracts archive

[anushka]

Dear All

Thank you very much for your kind and generous responses.
I have now narrowed my query to seeking MIT-IBM contracts from 1955 to 1973 i.e. during the time of time share development. I have written to MIT, CBI and CHM for it. CBI has informed me that these contracts are not available there but may be available at MIT. I hope to hear back from them.
I am trying to understand the evolution of vendor restrictions in terms of the role they played in accessing hardware. So the contract with IBM at the MIT Computation Center can be useful to see how the engineers got to tinker around in the first place. I understand that IBM was closely involved in supplying many components from secondary literature but I want to spend some time understanding what the contracts stated.
I hope to see the differences in the cloud environments now and how they constrain or permit (maybe through personnel relationships) such possibilities.
In case someone has access to those MIT-IBM contracts, I would be very grateful to be put in touch.

Hope you have a good week ahead!

Regards
Anushka

Sent with [Proton Mail](https://proton.me/mail/home) secure email.

On Wednesday, August 13th, 2025 at 6:18 AM, thomas.haigh at gmail.com <thomas.haigh at gmail.com> wrote:

> You would also find a lot of discussion of contracts for software and services in the ADPASO archives at CBI. https://archives.lib.umn.edu/repositories/3/resources/286
>
> ADAPSO was a trade organization which began with service bureaus and diversified into software. Helping its member companies produce contracts was a significant focus of its operations, and it produced model contracts of various kinds for their use, eventually leading to a Contracts Reference Directory.
>
> Many years ago I worked with these papers to produce a short series on its history in IEEE Annals.
>
> "ADAPSO and the Service Bureau Industry, 1961-1968," IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 26:1 (January-March 2004): 78-85. https://www.tomandmaria.com/Tom/Writing/ADAPSOprt1Article.pdf
>
> "ADAPSO, Timesharing Firms and Software Companies, 1968-1975," IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 27:1 (January-March 2005): 67-73. https://www.tomandmaria.com/Tom/Writing/ADAPSOprt2.pdf
>
> "ADAPSO, Regulated Competition, and Professional Services: 1976-1986" IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 27:2 (April-June 2005): 89-93. https://www.tomandmaria.com/Tom/Writing/ADAPSOprt3Article.pdf
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Tom
>
> Thomas Haigh
>
> Professor & Chair, UWM History Department
>
> Chair, IEEE Computer Society History Committee
>
> Director, ACM History Committee Turing Awards Project
>
> See more at www.tomandmaria.com/Tom
>
> From: Members <members-bounces at lists.sigcis.org> On Behalf Of anushka via Members
> Sent: Friday, August 8, 2025 12:48 PM
> To: members at lists.sigcis.org
> Subject: [SIGCIS-Members] Looking for earliest mainframe contracts and computer contracts archive
>
> Dear SIGCIS members
>
> I was wondering if someone has any mainframe and/or supercomputer contracts? or if there is an archive of computer contracts? jurisdictions and time periods, no bar although the older the better. The query is fairly broad so time share, leases, procurement contracts across contexts are very welcome :) I wish to look at the evolution of vendor restrictions (if any, although i think there would be ?)
>
> Happy to e-meet you all!
>
> Regards
>
> Anushka
>
> PhD Candidate, Institute for Information Law
>
> University of Amsterdam
>
> Sent with [Proton Mail](https://proton.me/mail/home) secure email.
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