Information Technology and Organizational Change in the British Census, 1801--1911

Martin Campbell-Kelly
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Martin Campbell-Kelly: University of Warwick, Department of Computer Science, Coventry CV4 7AL, United Kingdom

Information Systems Research, 1996, vol. 7, issue 1, 22-36

Abstract: The first British census was taken in 1801 and was processed by a handful of clerks in a tiny office. By the mid-1800s, the census had evolved into an elaborate Victorian data-processing operation involving over a hundred clerks, each of whom had a specialized information-processing role. In 1911 the census was mechanized and the routine data processing was taken over by punched-card machines.This paper explores the changes in information technology within the census over a period of more than a century, and the resulting organizational changes. A contrast is drawn with the U.S. census---which mechanized in 1890---on the adoption of new technology.

Keywords: information technology; census; tabulation; punched-card machinery; organizational change; organizational memory (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 1996
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:orisre:v:7:y:1996:i:1:p:22-36

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