IBM 89 Alphabetic Collator Manual of Operation detailing the operation, features, and functions of the IBM punched card collation machine manufactured from the 1940s to 1950s. This machine was designed to merge, match, and sequence-check punched cards, processing up to 480 cards per minute. The machine was programmed by arranging pluggable wires on a control panel to define the desired operations.
The manual details the machine’s components and explains how these components work together to perform tasks like comparing card fields, selecting specific cards, and identifying errors in card sequences. The manual provides detailed wiring diagrams and instructions for configuring the control panel to perform specific operations and some multi-step operations. It also includes explanations of the machine’s electronics and troubleshooting steps for handling unexpected errors.