Collections

Founder of the mathematical psychology program at the University of Michigan; correspondence, lectures, student notebooks, teaching files, and writing and research material.

The Clyde H. Coombs papers document the teaching and research aspects of the career of America's foremost mathematical psychologist. In many ways the collection reflects the close congruence between the teaching and research interests of Coombs. His research ideas permeated his teaching; what he learned while teaching came to be incorporated into his research. If Coombs embodied the model teacher-researcher, the collection only palely reflects this ideal in all save his theory of data research and seminars. This is largely because of a 1974 fire at the Coombs' home which destroyed all the materials he had stored there. Thus the collection, while strong in parts, has significant lacunae, including all documentation of Coombs' work as an editor, his work for the American Psychological Association, and, most importantly, his drafts of Mathematical Psychology. The strength of the collection is its thorough coverage of Coombs' teaching during the 1950s when his seminars and mimeographs of summary lectures justly earned a reputation as groundbreaking work among psychologists. The collection's detailed documentation of Coombs' later research on mathematical psychology will also be of interest to the specialist.

The Coombs papers span the years 1932-1988 and are organized into six series: Vitae and Biographies, Correspondence, Lectures, Student Notebooks, Teaching, and Writing and Research. The first three series reflect Coombs' arrangement scheme and remain in original order. Given the thin line between teaching and research for Coombs, the latter two series might well be viewed as complementary units. The material in these two series was rearranged in the course of processing to bring it into a rough chronological order with similar material (courses or research projects) placed together. In addition to these five series, there is one folder of biographical material in the front of Box 1.

The Cognitive Science and Machine Intelligence Laboratory (CSMIL) was established in 1985 as a joint venture with the School of Business, College of Engineering, and College of Literature, Science and the Arts. Gary Olson served as director from 1985 to 1994. Records detail the establishment of the laboratory and include committee minutes, financial records, announcements, and material on the colloquium series and various distinguished scientists invited to speak on artificial intelligence, spatial reasoning, and visualization of information.

The records consist of Topical Files, alphabetically arranged, which document various aspects of the Cognitive Science and Machine Intelligence Laboratory's administrative activities and research endeavors.

Within this series, Cognitive Science Course contains records pertaining courses which offered students a multidisciplinary approach to the study of cognition. These courses were proposed and offered between 1986 and 1988. Files contain correspondence, proposals, and course descriptions.

Colloquium Series contains programs, correspondence, and bulletins from colloquia sponsored and organized by the Cognitive Science and Machine Intelligence Laboratory.

The Newsletters series contains the CSMIL Bulletin, the main publication of the Cognitive Science and Machine Intelligence Laboratory, published biweekly. It provided a calendar of relevant events, colloquia, and workshops, as well as other announcements. Towards the late 1980s, the bulletin contained lengthier articles. This series also contains two editions of Express, a publication that updated the broader scientific community on the accomplishments of the EXPRES project, an electronic communication initiative.

Open Houses contains administrative documents, such as hand outs, to-do lists, and screen-shot print outs, relating to the CSMIL open houses.

Sloan Foundation contains records of the grant received to establish a program in Cognitive Science. The files include the final report to the Sloan Foundation on the project's development and activities.

Technical Reports include six spiral-bound versions of published reports co-authored by members of the Cognitive Science and Machine Intelligence Laboratory. The reports appeared in various journals, including Journal of Experimental Psychology, and the Journal on Expert Systems.

Student papers written for courses in architectural history research, mainly about Michigan architects, buildings and communities.

The records consist of student papers prepared for courses in the University of Michigan College of Architecture and Design (later Architecture and Urban Planning), primarily for classes in architectural history research; topics concern the architecture of specific Michigan communities, the architecture of historical buildings and homes, and studies of types of structures in Michigan; papers include historical description and appended visual material. Many of the papers include photos, postcards, and other illustrations relating to the architecture of specific Michigan communities, prominent historical buildings and houses in the state, and types of structures

Files relating to class reunions of the University of Michigan College of Engineering class of 1947, dating from 1952 to 2007. Records include plans for a major gift to the university at the 50th reunion (a reflecting pool) and biographical information on class members.

The material in the University of Michigan College of Engineering Class of 1947 records relate mainly to class reunions, held every five years from 1952 through 2007, including materials related to fundraising for and planning of the 50th reunion gift, a reflecting pool and fountain on the university's North Campus.

The material also includes responses to questionnaires sent out around each reunion collecting information about class members since graduation relating to their occupations and personal lives. A complete roster of the class as of 1987 was compiled for the 40th reunion and can be found in that folder.

Oral histories of University of Michigan College of Engineering faculty members, conducted by Enid Galler in 2003, discussing their background, education, careers, and the college and university

The University of Michigan College of Engineering Oral History Interviews are comprised of typed transcripts and audio cassette tapes of nine interviews with retired faculty members recorded during an oral history project undertaken by the college. The interviews were conducted by Enid H. Galler in 2003.

Interviews typically include information on the subject's background, education, and family, and commentary on his or her career and overall involvement with the university. The interviews also contain a great deal of information on the administration of, and issues within the College of Engineering, as well as on the operation of the university as a whole.

Publications produced by the College of Engineering and some of its academic departments and administrative units as student organizations. Includes annual reports, briefing papers, brochures and pamphlets, bulletins and college catalogs, calendars of college events, histories, manuals, newsletters, programs, proposals, reports, songbooks, and statistics.

The College of Engineering Publications consist of printed and born-digital material produced by the College of Engineering and some of its academic departments, administrative units and student organizations. Publications of some academic departments are cataloged separately. This collection includes:

- annual reports - briefing papers - brochures and pamphlets - bulletins and college catalogs - calendars of college events - histories - manuals - newsletters - programs - proposals - reports - songbooks - statistics

The College of Engineering Publications are divided into five series; Unit Publications, Sub-Unit Publications, Topical Publications, Student Publications; and Chronologically Arranged Publications.

The Unit Publications series contains printed material published specifically by the College of Engineering. These publications are defined as being widely distributed and may be published at regular intervals. They are arranged by genre of the publication.

The Sub-Unit Publications series contains publications from subordinate offices, departments, programs, laboratories and organizations within the College of Engineering. These publications are arranged alphabetically by the creating sub-unit.

The Topical Publications series includes publications which document specific events or activities such as anniversary celebrations, convocations, faculty awards or memorials, graduation exercises, or one-time conferences hosted by the College of Engineering.

The Student Publications series contains publications published by student groups within the College of Engineering. The specific student organizations are arranged alphabetically by name of the organization.

To expedite access to the College of Engineering publications, all materials received after 2017 are added to the collection in chronological order by the year of publication within the Chronologically Arranged Publications series. The series contains Unit, Sub-Unit, Topical, and Student publications.

Some publications (or their successors) may no longer be available in print but are available on the school's website, www.engin.umich.edu.

Records of the University of Michigan College of Engineering include histories, correspondence and topical files of deans; minutes of the executive and other committees; faculty records, including minutes of meetings and faculty biographies; miscellaneous student and alumni records; photographs, microfilm, digital files, and archived website.

The College of Engineering records date from 1860 to 2014 and measure 118.5 linear feet, 3 oversize folders, and 1,196 GB. The records document the internal activities of the College of Engineering, both administrative and academic, the role of the college as a unit of the University of Michigan, and research developments and trends over the years. Correspondence, meeting minutes, reports, financial records, and other material reflect changing research interests within the field of engineering as well as the curriculum development that has accompanied technological advances. Of particular interest are the files relating to outside work by faculty members, a question of enduring concern within the college. The records reflect the relations of the College of Engineering with private industry, especially through the documentation of funding from outside sources and the involvement of professors in outside research.

Program established in 1957 within the College of Literature, Science & the Arts designed to provide a rigorous curriculum for exceptional students. Early directors include Robert C. Angell and Otto Graf. Records include correspondence, course material, schedules and topical files relating to the administration and development of the honors program.

The records of the Honors Program loosely document the development of the program and its activities from its inception in 1957 until 1984. The lone Topical series is arranged alphabetically with several folders for Administrative personnel, Awards and scholarships, College Honors Seminar and the Cutcheon Fund. Much of the collection consists of correspondence between the various directors and other campus departments as well as contacts from other organizations.

Information found in the Annual reports folder clearly documents the program's first three years. After that time period, published brochures and brochure copy found in the Brochure folder offer fairly complete information about the program while the Newspaper clippings folder gives an overview of the program's activities and an idea of how the program was viewed by the public. Correspondence housed in the Administrative personnel folders and the Intraoffice correspondence and Miscellaneous folders also offer insight.

The remainder of the record group contains lists of Honors Council members, some routine office transactions, procedure guidelines, and opportunities within the Honors Program that shed some light on the program's direction. For an idea of student interest in the early 1980s, see the folder titled Fund requests in the Cutcheon Fund folders. Project proposals are attached to each fund request. Also of special interest is correspondence related to Offset a short-lived literary magazine which was developed and produced by honors students.

For additional information regarding the Honors Program see the College of Literature, Science and the Arts record group, which also contains Honors Program records. The records of Robert C. Angell are also held by the Bentley Historical Library.

Founded in 1841, the College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LSA) is the liberal arts college of the University of Michigan, encompassing over 100 academic departments and non-departmental centers, programs, institutes, museums, and laboratories. The collection contains publications from the college's units, subordinate units, and student groups, and includes miscellaneous announcements, annual reports, bibliographies, brochures, bulletins, calendars, directories, flyers, guidebooks, manuals, newsletters and reports of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts and the Summer Session. Also included are newsletters from the Honors Program; reports of the Commission on Graduation Requirements, the Committee on the Underclass Experience, and Office of Faculty Counselors; and web archives.

The University of Michigan. College of Literature, Science and the Arts publications (11.5 linear feet and 1.48GB (online)) include addresses, annual reports, bibliographies, brochures, bulletins or college catalogs, by-laws, calendars, catalogs, directories, ephemera (including flyers, invitations, posters, and programs), manuals, monographs, newsletters, proceedings marking the centennial of the college, questionnaires, regulations, reports, and web archives. A large percentage of the publications are bulletins and course catalogs of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LS&A) and its predecessor, the Department of Literature, Science and the Arts. There is also extensive information on the Honors Program, the Office of Student Academic Affairs, and LS&A Student Government.

Founded in 1841, the College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LSA) is the liberal arts college of the University of Michigan, encompassing over 100 academic departments and non-departmental centers, programs, institutes, museums, and laboratories. The record group includes correspondence, meeting minutes, memoranda, reports, proposals, subject files, and program materials from the administrative offices of the dean and the academic units that make up the college.

The records of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts (LSA) of the University of Michigan date from 1846 with the first meeting of the literary college's faculty. They now span more than a century and a half and comprise 549.4 linear feet (in 550 boxes), 3 volumes, and 169.9 GB of minutes, correspondence, memoranda, reports, and subject files detailing the activities of the college from its early beginnings in the mid-nineteenth century to its present status as the largest of the university's colleges.

The administrative records of the college have come to the library in six major accessions beginning in 1942 with small periodic accessions thereafter. In addition, the college has periodically deposited bound record copies of the minute books of the meetings of the LSA faculty. Covering the years 1846 to 2007, the minute books (oversize volumes, boxes 204 to 209, and box 388) are the most important source of information about the college, especially for the period before World War I because few other extant records document the activities of the university's liberal arts college.