The collection is open to research.
The copyright status of this collection is unknown. Copyright restrictions may apply. Contact Special Collections and University Archives for assistance in determining the use of these materials.
Reproduction or digitization of materials for personal or research use can be requested using our reproduction/digitization form: http://bit.ly/scuareproduction. Reproduction or digitization of materials for publication or exhibit use can be requested using our publication/exhibition form: http://bit.ly/scuapublication. Please contact Special Collections and University Archives (specref@vt.edu or 540-231-6308) if you need assistance with forms or to submit a completed form.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [identification of item], [box], [folder], J. Christopher Jones Papers, Ms1989-023, Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, Va.
The J. Christopher Jones Papers were transferred to the Special Collections from the Newman Library book collection in 1989.
The processing, arrangement and description of the J. Christopher Jones Papers commenced and was completed in March 2007.
John Christopher Jones (also known as J. Christopher Jones, John Jones, Chris Jones, and John Chris Jones) was born in Wales in 1927, the son of Christopher John and Jennie Humphreys Jones. After attending Cambridge University, where he studied engineering, Jones began working at Associated Electrical Industries in Manchester, England and teaching industrial design courses at Manchester's Regional College of Art.
Throughout the 1950s, Jones published a number of works on the design process, culminating on his article "A Systematic Design Method." Jones advocated a user-centrist philosophy to the engineering process, bringing ergonomics to the forefront of considerations in the design process. In the 1960s, he established the Design Research Laboratory at Manchester University and taught a master's course in design technology. In 1962 he was a co-founder of the first Conference on Design Methods, from which grew the Design Research Society.
In 1970, Jones published
This collection contains photocopies of the compiled writings of designer J. Christopher Jones. The collection includes copies of published articles, unpublished manuscripts, internal reports, and proposals concerning such subjects as streamlining, implications of automation, human error and accidents, and mechanization and design. The fifth volume in the series, titled "Dear Architects," consists of a set of open letters in which Jones addresses questions raised by students during his time as a visiting scholar at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University's College of Architecture and Urban Studies.
The volumes in this collection are arranged in chronological order.
Bibliography of Jones' works, created by Tom and Claire Mitchell of Indiana University, archived version at https://web.archive.org/web/20070418065320/http://www.indiana.edu/~iucdp/jonesbib.html, accessed Dec. 15, 2022.
Website of John Chris Jones, http://www.publicwriting.net/, accessed Dec. 15, 2022.
The guide to the J. Christopher Jones Papers by Special Collections and University Archives, Virginia Tech, is licensed under a CC0 (https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/public-domain/cc0/).