Summary:
Early life and education. Was a Hollerith clerk at beginning of work experience with L&N. Larkin describes this period when these machines functioned as the forerunners of IBM machines. Good description of the punchcard and the information it carried. IBM brought out Hollerith and then with the coming of World War II, the computers began to take work projects from many different departments. Procedure for disbursement described. This covers the time period from 1920 into the 1960s. Resistance and/or astonishment as to the areas that the computers would be able to handle. Discussion of payrolls and the explanation of the changes over from the auditor of disbursements from 1963-1968. Creation of the Management and Information Services Department and its function. Examples of the work done by this group include: jobs from all chief clerks; jobs from other departments; and stock records from the L&N common stock. Example of how bills with errors would be noted by the computer and adjusted where necessary. Comments on car accounting, Cybernetics & Systems, Inc., and its relationship to the L&N, use of computers in Chicago before computers were on location here in Louisville.
Topic(s):
Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company, Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company--Employees, Louisville and Nashville Railroad Company--Automation
