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Library Periodicals Library Film Library Photograph Library Audio Library Graphics Art Library The Olivetti Family The Olivetti Company Personalities |
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The Olivetti Company This is the largest section of the Olivetti Historical Archives, especially in terms of size. However, it is still largely unclassified and unfortunately not always complete, and so cannot offer a record of certain sectors and certain periods in the company's history. One of the reasons for this is the continuous technological change in Olivetti's research, development and production activities, which have progressed from mechanics to precision mechanics, from electronics to information technology and telecommunications, with the result that significant quantities of paper-based documentation or records stored on obsolete supports were lost or even destroyed as a new technology became established. Similarly, the sale of entire company divisions almost always led to the loss of all the relevant records. The sale of the Olivetti Electronics Division to General Electric in the 1960s is a case in point. A variety of paths can be taken through the Olivetti Company Archives, relating to the key sectors in the company's strategies and organisation over the years. A large number of collections containing thousands of documents can be included under the general heading of Sales and Marketing. They constitute a huge store of documents dealing chiefly with the market, sales channels, customers and services:
Other material deals with the organisational structure and the standards drawn up to ensure a uniformity of procedure across the company:
Olivetti's economic research and analysis activities are largely documented by a series of studies, analyses, plans, forecasts and reports covering the years from the 1950s onwards. This is the Economic Studies Division Collection, many of whose hundreds of documents were written by Franco Momigliano. The Collections of Company Acts are historically important and an indispensable reference for any type of research work:
while the Collections of General Documentation offer a window on the evolution of the corporate organisational structure:>
Two ground-breaking units in the Olivetti organisation were the Psychology Centre and the Sociology Centre. Headed by distinguished experts, these centres published hundreds of high-level studies and research reports, which were widely circulated in the Italian and international scientific communities:
A huge body of documents illustrate the countless activities organised by the Cultural Services in Ivrea over fifty years, a time when similar initiatives by other institutions and private bodies were sporadic. The names of the various Collections give an idea of the variety and continuity of these high-level activities:
The dynamic cultural activities organised by Olivetti's Milan offices were more institutional in nature and targeted a wider audience. In this case too, the originality of the company's cultural interests and strategies won Olivetti worldwide prominence:
Other sections offer important material on the company's development and its extensive experience in internal and external relations:
The Olivetti Social Services were instituted at the end of the 1940s as a comprehensive system of facilities providing maternity and childcare support, vocational training, cultural, sports and recreational activities, factory services, housing, healthcare and social assistance. Another important area of operation, which enjoyed particular support from Adriano Olivetti, was Town Planning and Architecture. The Olivetti Historical Archives house extensive photographic material on buildings and factories, as well as a large section in the library on Olivetti architecture and architects. In addition, a number of collections offer source material documenting one of the most important town planning and architectural programmes of the century:
The machines produced by Olivetti form another important section of the Olivetti Historical Archives. The main body of the collection consists of mechanical and electronic products, covering a period from Olivetti's foundation, or, more specifically, from the first typewriter, the M1, to the beginning of the 1980s:
The collection is flanked by documents relating more specifically to design and development work:
A significant group of documents is concerned with Olivetti's manufacturing activities, where the use of innovative production organisation models has always kept the company at the forefront of Italian industry.
Olivetti has always been extremely active in the area of training, with a vast programme of courses at all levels, both in and outside Italy. The collections in the Olivetti Historical Archives contain much important material:
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