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  <titleInfo>
    <title>John W. Backus papers, 1951-2001 (bulk 1953-1991)</title>
  </titleInfo>
  <name type="personal">
    <namePart>Backus, John W.</namePart>
    <namePart type="date">1924-2007</namePart>
    <role>
      <roleTerm authority="marcrelator" type="text">creator</roleTerm>
    </role>
  </name>
  <typeOfResource collection="yes" manuscript="yes">mixed material</typeOfResource>
  <originInfo>
    <issuance>monographic</issuance>
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  <language>
    <languageTerm authority="iso639-2b" type="code">eng</languageTerm>
  </language>
  <physicalDescription>
    <extent>2,000</extent>
    <extent>12 1</extent>
    <extent>4.8</extent>
  </physicalDescription>
  <abstract>Correspondence, memoranda, speeches, writings, reports, notes, slides, photographs, and other papers relating to Backus's work as a computer scientist at IBM on programming languages, particularly FORTRAN.  Includes material relating to Backus's early work on the IBM Selective Sequence Electronic Calculator and Backus-Naur Form (BNF).  Documents Backus's pursuit as IBM Fellow, 1963-1991, of his own research projects relating to mathematical theories of programming and the development of functional programming languages.  Also includes files pertaining to Backus's political activism as a member of Computer Professionals Against ABM in the early 1970s and as an opponent of the strategic defense initiative in the 1980s.</abstract>
  <note>Open to research.</note>
  <note>Sound recording transferred to Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division.</note>
  <note>Computer scientist.</note>
  <note>Collection material in English.</note>
  <note xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms007001">Finding aid available in the Library of Congress Manuscript Reading Room and at http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms007001</note>
  <subject authority="lcsh">
    <name type="personal">
      <namePart>Backus, John W</namePart>
      <namePart type="date">1924-2007</namePart>
    </name>
    <topic>Political activity</topic>
  </subject>
  <subject authority="lcsh">
    <name type="corporate">
      <namePart>International Business Machines Corporation.</namePart>
    </name>
  </subject>
  <subject authority="lcsh">
    <topic>Ballistic missile defenses</topic>
  </subject>
  <subject authority="lcsh">
    <topic>Calculators</topic>
  </subject>
  <subject authority="lcsh">
    <topic>Computers</topic>
  </subject>
  <subject authority="lcsh">
    <topic>FORTRAN (Computer program language)</topic>
  </subject>
  <subject authority="lcsh">
    <topic>Programming languages (Electronic computers)</topic>
  </subject>
  <subject authority="itoamc">
    <occupation>Computer scientists</occupation>
  </subject>
  <identifier type="lccn">mm2003084968</identifier>
  <identifier type="hdl">hdl:loc.mss/eadmss.ms007001</identifier>
  <identifier type="hdl">hdl:loc.mss/eadmss.ms007001.3</identifier>
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    <url displayLabel="Finding aid">http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms007001</url>
  </location>
  <location>
    <url displayLabel="Finding aid (PDF)">http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.mss/eadmss.ms007001.3</url>
  </location>
  <accessCondition type="restrictionOnAccess">Open to research.</accessCondition>
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