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Catalog Data

Medium:
plastic; metal; paper; ink
Type:
Employee Gear
Place:
New York
Date:
c. 1990
Description:
GRiDCase 3 laptop’s black magnesium-alloy case protected the high-contrast gas-plasma display, IBM PC-compatible keyboard, and hardware. TThe laptop has peripheral cable, a rechargeable battery and AC power adaptor, which has one attached cable and one detachable power cable. The laptop is designed to run on MSDOS and GRiD operating systems. The laptop was produced by GRiD Defense Systems and many of the laptops were marketed for durability and demanding rigors of military use. The laptop was used by US Postal Service with software installed for statistics gathering: CODES, Computerized On-site Data Entry System. The data collected was saved automatically to a disk. A black, plastic case of six diskettes (including a strip of labels) contains programs used for tests and data collection. A loose label with red printing provides instructions for program operators. A carrying bag helped make the laptop and office materials portable.
The ODIS pin worn by the US Postal Service employee showed that the employee was certified in the Origin-Destination Information System, which was used to collect data on mail volume, service standards, service analysis, and other factors. The two service pins commemorate the postal career of Maria (Marques) Price; including a twenty-five year service pin (in a plastic case) and a pin with the USPS sonic eagle in blue and white enamel on brass marked “STATISTICAL PROGRAMS SERVICE AWARD / NSPT AUGUST 2003 / 15+ YEARS.”
The February 1991 edition of the Long Island Postal News includes a photograph of the Statistical Programs ODIS unit and article about the group’s recent certification. Maria (Marques) Price is part of the group photo, and she used the GRiDcase 3 laptop for statistical data collecting. “I did keep a pamphlet where our Long Island District mentioned our department of Statistical Programs and the certification we had to pass. Members of our department are in the picture with our new pins. I am in the first row, second from right, Maria Marques.” (email Price to Heidelbaugh, August 2, 2020)
Accurate statistics are essential for the US Postal Service to measure, report and understand mail volume, quality of service, costs and revenue. The complex nation-wide operation of the postal system has a long history of data collection and analysis for required government reporting. The work performed by data collection employees was helped by the use of laptops and specially designed software such as these. This equipment enabled the staff to collect data on site, made the need to paper forms obsolescent, and allowed for automation from data collection to analysis.
Topic:
New Acquisitions  Search this
Postal Employees  Search this
Contemporary (1990-present)  Search this
Object number:
2021.2013.4.1-.8
See more items in:
National Postal Museum Collection
Data Source:
National Postal Museum
GUID:
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/hm8e6e4d581-824b-4731-a826-03a50b0790af
EDAN-URL:
edanmdm:npm_2021.2013.4.1-.8