Activities of the Circle
The Goals of the Dutch Circle
- Mutual support of members for collecting and research
- Promotion of public knowledge and awareness of the historical interest of
the slide rule and other calculating instrumentsThese goals are being pursued by the following activities:
 | Publication of our magazine, the "MIR"
(in Dutch: "Mededelingen en Informatie betreffende Historische Rekeninstrumenten", translated: "Announcements and Information for Historical Calculating Instruments"). This magazine is published 2 or 3 times a year |
| Organizing the Circle's yearly meeting for members to make and follow agreements, new initiatives, swap slide rules, and just have some pleasant talks in "Living Room Gatherings" at the home of individual members (some times a year) |
| Administration of members and their coordinates (address list for the
mutual contacts, of which the data is explicitly provided by each Kring member only for access by other members, and not by third parties). |
| Sharing of results and achievements by members, like publications in books, "MIR" or other papers, presentations about own research or experiences, sharing of lists of manufacturers catalogues, manuals, books etc. |
| One of the best-known products of the Circle is the "Blue
Book" of Herman van Herwijnen, a very extensive catalogue of about 5500 slide rules, with some 6000 colour pictures. The Blue Book has evolved into the online SR Catalogue |
| Maintaining contacts with collectors organizations abroad, especially in Germany (www.rechenschieber.org), England (www.sliderules.org.uk) and the USA (www.oughtred.org) |
| Organization of International
Meetings for collectors of slide rules and other calculating instruments (for example the first one in Utrecht in 1995, and IM2000 in Ede, 2000, IM2003 in Amsterdam, 2003, and IM2007 in Lelystad, 2007) |
| Publicity directed to the public at large, e.g. by press interviews, or presence at collectors fairs with a stand representing the Circle and the collecting hobby  |
| Issuing a colour brochure at public events |
| Construction and maintenance of the Circle Website |
| Group Email to Circle members, to broadcast announcements or questions
within the Circle (beginning 2009, about 94 % of all Circle members had access to Internet) |
Anybody who is interested and who wants to share these activities,
is very welcome as member of the Dutch Circle. Ask more information!
The yearly contribution is 20.- EURO.
