Guide to the Michael Rulison Collection of Osborne Computer Club Newsletters, 1981-1988

Collection Number MC 170

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Collection Information
Abstract:

This collection contains newsletters of various Osborne Computer user groups for the years 1982 to 1988 as well as some related items. Included are the publications of the First Osborne Group (Foghorn and Foglight), the Chicago user group (PIP), the Seattle-Tacoma area group (Toggle) and the Raleigh Osborne Computer Group or the Raleigh Other Computer Group (R.O.C.C. Pile).

Michael Rulison has had a long career in research in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina. While associated with the Research Triangle Institute, he authored A Study of State Uses of Smith Island (1970) for the North Carolina Department of Conservation and Development. During the 1980s, while with the Center for Population and Urban-Rural Studies, he wrote several technical reports of travel studies for the Travel and Tourism Division of the North Carolina Department of Commerce. He later worked for the Institutional Research program at North Carolina State University. Rulison has also been involved with Osborne computer user groups, RTPNet, the Triangle Open Source Lab, and the North Carolina Consumers Council. The Osborne Computer Corporation released the first widely available personal computer, the Osborne 1, in 1981, inspiring groups of computer programming hobbyists all over the country.

Contact Information:
Special Collections Research Center
NCSU Libraries
Campus Box 7111
Raleigh, North Carolina
27695-7111 USA
Phone: (919) 515-2273
Fax: (919) 513-1787
URL: http://www.lib.ncsu.edu/specialcollections/
Web Contact Form
Processed by
Todd Kosmerick and Kelly Clark, 2007
Encoded by
Todd Kosmerick, 2007
Updated by
Kelly Clark, December 2007

Descriptive Summary

Repository

North Carolina State University Libraries, Special Collections Research Center

Creator

Rulison, Michael v. E.

Title

Michael Rulison Collection of Osborne Computer Club Newsletters, 1981-1988

Call Number

MC 170

Extent

2 linear feet, 4 archival boxes

Location

For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Special Collections Research Center Reference Staff.

Language of Material

English

Information for Users

Restrictions to Access

Collection is open for research; access requires at least 24 hours advance notice.
Acquisitions Information

Gift of Michael Rulison, 2007 (Accession no. 2007-0248)
Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], Michael Rulison Collection of Osborne Computer Club Newsletters, MC 170, Special Collections Research Center, North Carolina State University Libraries, Raleigh, NC
Copyright Notice

The nature of the NCSU Libraries' Special Collections means that copyright or other information about restrictions may be difficult or even impossible to determine despite reasonable efforts. The NCSU Libraries claims only physical ownership of most Special Collections materials.

The materials from our collections are made available for use in research, teaching, and private study, pursuant to U.S. Copyright law. The user must assume full responsibility for any use of the materials, including but not limited to, infringement of copyright and publication rights of reproduced materials. Any materials used for academic research or otherwise should be fully credited with the source.

Biographical Note


Michael Rulison has had a long career in research in the Research Triangle area of North Carolina. While associated with the Research Triangle Institute, he authored A Study of State Uses of Smith Island (1970) for the North Carolina Department of Conservation and Development. During the 1980s, while with the Center for Population and Urban-Rural Studies, he wrote several technical reports of travel studies for the Travel and Tourism Division of the North Carolina Department of Commerce. He later worked for the Institutional Research program at North Carolina State University. Rulison has also been involved with Osborne computer user groups, RTPNet, the Triangle Open Source Lab, and the North Carolina Consumers Council.

The Osborne Computer Corporation was founded by Adam Osborne in 1980 and set out to produce and market the first portable personal computer packaged with software, an innovation that foresaw the usefulness of personal computers not only for computer programming hobbyists but for the practical purposes of word processing and the like for businesses and individuals. The Osborne 1 computer was released in 1981 and ran on the CP/M operating system. Adam Osborne and his company gained the most notoriety for what has been termed the "Osborne Effect." In 1983, Adam Osborne began boasting about the new and improved products the Osborne company was working on, killing demand for the Osborne 1, which would be made obsolete by the new technology. As a result, sales dropped off, and the company was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1983 before any of its new products were complete.

Scope and Content Note


This collection contains newsletters of various Osborne Computer user groups for the years 1982 to 1987 as well as some related items. Included are the publications of the First Osborne Group (Foghorn and Foglight), the Chicago user group (PIP), the Seattle-Tacoma area group (Toggle), and the Raleigh Osborne Computer Group, also known as the Raleigh Other Computer Group (R.O.C.C. Pile).

These newsletters vary in production quality from hand-stapled desktop-published mailings , like R.O.C.C. Pile, that were circulated by smaller groups and tend to be about 8 pages long, to more professionally produced newsletters, such as Foglight, that are printed on newsprint, folded and stapled to resemble a journal, and tend to be around 20 pages long. The newsletters are all printed in two colors with very few photographs, although there are often illustrations. Given the nonprofessional nature of these computer clubs, most of the early content was composed by club members and included tips, tricks, and strategies for programming Osborne computers. However, as the computer clubs grew, newsletters often had regular writers and editors who shared their expertise with the wider programming community.

Online Catalog Terms


The following terms have been used to index the guide to the collection in the NCSU Library's online catalog.

Individuals

  • Rulison, Michael v. E.

Topics

  • Osborne 1 (Computer) -- Periodicals.
  • Computer programming -- Periodicals.

Detailed Description of the Collection

  • Raleigh (N.C.) Osborne Computer Club Newsletters, "R. O. C. C. Pile," 1982-1984 [MC 170 Box 1, Folder 1]
  • Raleigh (N.C.) Osborne Computer Club Newsletters, "R. O. C. C. Pile," 1985-1987 [MC 170 Box 1, Folder 2]
  • Raleigh (N.C.) Osborne Computer Club, 1982 [MC 170 Box 1, Folder 3]
  • First Osborne Group (Palo Alto, Calif.) Newsletters, "Foghorn," 1982-1983 [MC 170 Box 1, Folder 4]
  • First Osborne Group (Daly City, Calif.) Newsletters, "Foghorn," 1983-1984 [MC 170 Box 1, Folder 5]
  • First Osborne Group (Daly City, Calif.) Newsletters, "Foghorn," 1984 [MC 170 Box 1, Folder 6]
  • First Osborne Group (Daly City, Calif.) Newsletters, "Foghorn," 1984 [MC 170 Box 1, Folder 7]
  • First Osborne Group (Daly City, Calif.) Newsletters, "Foghorn," 1984 [MC 170 Box 1, Folder 8]
  • First Osborne Group (Daly City, Calif.) Newsletters, "Foghorn," 1985 [MC 170 Box 2, Folder 1]
  • First Osborne Group (Daly City, Calif.) Newsletters, "Foghorn," 1985 [MC 170 Box 2, Folder 2]
  • First Osborne Group (Daly City, Calif.) Newsletters, "Foghorn," 1985 [MC 170 Box 2, Folder 3]
  • First Osborne Group (Daly City, Calif.) Newsletters, "Foghorn," 1985-1986 [MC 170 Box 2, Folder 4]
  • First Osborne Group (Daly City, Calif.) Newsletters, "Foghorn," 1986 [MC 170 Box 2, Folder 5]
  • First Osborne Group (Daly City, Calif.) Newsletters, "Foghorn," 1986 [MC 170 Box 2, Folder 6]
  • First Osborne Group (Daly City, Calif.) Newsletters, "Foghorn," 1986 [MC 170 Box 2, Folder 7]
  • First Osborne Group (Daly City, Calif.) Newsletters, "Foghorn," 1986 [MC 170 Box 2, Folder 8]
  • First Osborne Group (Daly City, Calif.) Newsletters, "Foghorn," 1986-1987 [MC 170 Box 3, Folder 1]
  • First Osborne Group (Daly City, Calif.) Newsletters, "Foghorn," 1987 [MC 170 Box 3, Folder 2]
  • First Osborne Group (Daly City, Calif.) Publications, "Foglight," 1986-1987 [MC 170 Box 3, Folder 3]
  • First Osborne Group (Daly City, Calif.) Publications, "Foglight," 1987-1988 [MC 170 Box 3, Folder 4]
  • First Osborne Group (Daly City, Calif.) Publications, "Foglight," 1988 [MC 170 Box 3, Folder 5]
  • First Osborne Group (Daly City, Calif.), 1983-1986 [MC 170 Box 3, Folder 6]
  • Chicago's (Ill.) First Osborne Group Newsletters, "PIP," 1983-1985 [MC 170 Box 3, Folder 7]
  • Chicago's (Ill.) First Osborne Group Newsletters, "PIP," 1985-1986 [MC 170 Box 3, Folder 8]
  • Chicago's (Ill.) First Osborne Group Newsletters, "PIP," 1987 [MC 170 Box 3, Folder 9]
  • Chicago's (Ill.) First Osborne Group Newsletters, "PIP," 1988 [MC 170 Box 3, Folder 10]
  • South King County and Tacoma (Wash.) Osborne Groups Newsletters, "Skoglet and Toggle," 1984-1985 [MC 170 Box 4, Folder 1]
  • Seattle-Tacoma (Wash.) Area Osborne Groups Newsletters, "Toggle," 1985 [MC 170 Box 4, Folder 2]
  • Seattle-Tacoma (Wash.) Area Osborne Groups Newsletters, "Toggle," 1986 [MC 170 Box 4, Folder 3]
  • Seattle-Tacoma (Wash.) Area Osborne CP/M Groups Newsletters, "Toggle," 1986 [MC 170 Box 4, Folder 4]
  • Seattle-Tacoma (Wash.) Area Microcomputer Groups Newsletters, "Toggle," 1986-1987 [MC 170 Box 4, Folder 5]
  • Seattle-Tacoma (Wash.) Area Microcomputer Groups Newsletters, "Toggle," 1987-1988 [MC 170 Box 4, Folder 6]
  • Miscellaneous Osborne Computer Group Newsletters, 1985-1986 [MC 170 Box 4, Folder 7]
  • Clippings, Byte Magazine, 1985 [MC 170 Box 4, Folder 8]
  • The Portable Companion for Osborne Computer Users, Magazine, January/February, 1985 [MC 170 Box 4, Folder 9]
  • Osborne Computers and Computer Programming, 1981-1986, undated [MC 170 Box 4, Folder 10]