Data Office Established; Computers to Sort Info

The Data and Mailing Services, established by Harvard this year will handle by computer all information about Harvard alumni, students, faculty, and administration.

Under the direction of Paul Sadler, Jr., the new organization will sort and record up to 600 items about each member of the Harvard family. The data will include, for example, home and business addresses, degrees, academic honors, memberships in clubs, Harvard Club membership, and subscription to Harvard periodicals.

Before the advent of the Data Mailing Services, the information was kept on a number of separate stencil files. Now, much of it has been stored on 16,800 feet of computer tape; by next year, 25,000 additional feet should be compiled.

The tapes will be deciphered by Harvard's IBM 7094 computer, for such purposes as selective mailings and statistical data. The computer output will be printed in capitals and small letters through the use of 11 computer programs originated by the Data and Mailing Services Office.

This output, printed in two-column folio form, can then be photographed and published. The 1965 Harvard Alumni Directory will be produced by this method. Formerly, the names and data were put in alphabetic order and set into type by hand.

The Computer Services Division of the State Street Bank and Trust Company of Boston, under Robert E. Moll, director of long range planning, provided the computer programs for the new system.