Description: Many of us read, write and send emails every day, but when did it all start at the Smithsonian? In 1980 Smithsonian staff had typewriters and telephones on their desk, with one or two FAX machines per office. The Smithsonian operated a single general purpose computer, the Honeywell mainframe, for all Smithsonian data processing applications and which did not include an email
Description: Research records refer to any materials created or collected while conducting research as part of a Smithsonian employee's official duties. They may exist in many formats including sheets of paper, notecards, field books, maps, databases, spreadsheets, audiovisual materials, and images. Research records can typically be divided into three broad categories: 1) secondary