This section offers historical snapshots, during his period in charge, of the business Monty founded.

(For those with no previous background, the Intro section is more appropriate and should be read first.)

1951- Personal memories from Derwent's inception

1960-1: A landmark period involving:-

Relocation to proper premises in Central London (Rochdale House)

First  visit to Moscow and its aftermath

Maxwell is forced to withdraw

UK competitor is bought out

1963-: Proto-database phase: punch cards

Mid-1960s: A period of rapid expansion, as shown by:-

Turnover and profit figures in the lead-up to the 1966 buyout by Thomson.

1967-68:  Pricing controversies following devaluation of the pound

1968:  Was Farmdoc a book? (Questions arising from the UK Copyright Act)

-1972: Leadup to the launch of World Patents Index (A detailed briefing to Thomson directors; and a memoir chapter that gives more background.)

1974: The start and finish of a presentation that Monty gave to a WIPO convened conference in Moscow. DWPI had now launched, but the first four days of the event appeared to have pretended that it did not exist. Monty had some spiky things to say about that.

1976: DWPI goes online -- motivations for being an early adopter

1976, a 'nitty-gritty' look at the DWPI production process.

1980: Subject coverage completes its expansion

1982: an organisational snapshot of the company's operations in London.....with a separate page about the work of Peter Norton.

1984: the work of the Production Division -- 14,000 books per week and more.

1989: launch of Markush DARC --  Anglo-French co-operation at the leading edge.

Looking back: Value added from the start

Looking back: Database entrepreneurs -- Monty in context.

International perspective: Appreciation from Japan

Perspective internationale: Montagu Hyams par Philippe Borne

You'll perceive that much of this is background not found online elsewhere.

However, if you think this material seems specialised, it's as nothing as compared to what resides in the Hyams Archive now under the care of City University London.  Academics at City (and those who arrange to visit) can in particular draw on rich detail from subscriber meetings to learn about information issues in the first-generation online era and immediately preceding. 

That completes my overview of the 'Derwent' section of this website, writes Peter Hyams.

(For the website of Derwent today, go to https://clarivate.com/derwent/)

The Personal section includes memoir extracts plus other material on Monty's life in general. 

It includes an overview Reference timeline of his life and the business.