This collection comprises over 700 boxes of materials donated by over 600 early Silicon Valley tech companies, documenting the evolution of the Silicon Valley’s tech industry from 1986 through 1993.
About the Collection
Company boxes may include any of the following: advertising proofs, annual meeting notices, annual and quarterly reports, backgrounders, brochures, flyers, catalogs, company histories, employment information, executive biographies and speeches, financial analyst reports, legal statements and opinions, newsletters, press releases and reprints, photographs, price lists, product literature, prospectuses, SEC-required forms, shareholder letters, technical papers and white papers.
These materials were originally held in the Silicon Valley Information Center (SVIC), a separate collection space within the San Jose Public Library, which operated from 1986 to 1992. Created in response to ever increasing demands on the public library for information concerning Silicon Valley related issues, SVIC was the first centralized public facility to chronicle the birth, development and impact of the high technology industries of Silicon Valley. It contained historical archives and information resources (current at the time) on many of the valley’s high tech companies which were not indexed elsewhere.
Local companies contributed material to develop a corporate archival collection of annual reports, newsletters, product brochures, and other material. The SVIC provided resources for historical and environmental research, technological study, product marketing, and employment searches. In 1988 nearly 9,000 patrons (mostly job-seekers and individuals in the service industry researching potential clients) visited SVIC. The collection was funded by a series of grants written by Mike Ferrero and Virginia Carpio, of the San Jose Public Library. The grants provided funding for three years including the original needs assessment surveys as well as services and materials provided by the center. Following the departure of Mike Ferrero and Virginia Carpio, Patricia Curia and Wynne Dobyns managed the SVIC until budget limitations forced its closure in 1992.
SVIC collection items were moved to the main library reference unit, the California Room, and the SJPL circulating book collection. Corporate ephemera that had been donated by Apple, Inc. were moved to the Stanford Silicon Valley Archives (established in 1983).
For information about using images from this collection, contact the California Room.
