How BYU Revolutionized the Modern Library (ERI Pt. 3)

You [The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints] serve not only this country but all humanity as you focus international attention on man’s considerable reliance on the documentary heritage of his planet. The doubts and difficulties of our revolutionary modern age make it imperative that we not ignore the lessons of history, and that we not neglect the archives that encompass the drama of human experience. - Richard Nixon, July 16, 1969

This is Part 3 of my continuing series exploring the Eyring Research Institute — BYU’s shadowy defense research arm. See Part 1 for general history of the ERI, and Part 2 for how they tried to usher in Jesus’s Second Coming with word processing software.

When I stopped believing in Mormonism, I resigned from the church. Otherwise, my personal information, including my birthdate, address, and church experience, would remain on LDS servers, accessible to anybody within the organization. Getting them to delete your records is a legal process handled by pro bono lawyers in Salt Lake City. You used to only send in a letter — now you need that letter notarized. Even still, Mormon congregants have called my phone, signed me up for church magazines, and sent me emails every time I’ve moved.

I was an active temple recommend holder, deemed worthy to participate in the rituals of the Mormon temple. I carried a little card with a barcode in my wallet. When I entered the temple, an elderly temple matron would scan the little card, confirming that the temple recommend was active in the church’s network. Since your worthiness is tied to that barcode and not your person, Exmormons have snuck back into the temple using somebody else’s active recommend card.

As you drive through the Wasatch Front, look east of Draper. One of those peaks is Granite Mountain. The Mormons have dug a deep, deep hole into the mountain and filled it with thousands upon thousands of historical records. Births, deaths, marriages, divorces — a massive record of humankind is stored there. It doesn’t matter if you’re Mormon or not; if they have your records, they’ll store them and eventually baptize you into Mormonism postmortem. The Vault is nuke-proof.

Record keeping has long been a part of Mormonism. In the modern age, it has morphed into a vast information architecture, operating behind the scenes of the church. Networks churn day and night recording, collating, and cross-referencing information within and without the Mormon sphere of influence. Starting in the 1960s, the church recognized that its growth rate had made using paper records impractical and turned to the burgeoning field of computer science, charging its tech heads at BYU with building the futuristic, computerized church. 

As part of this effort, the Eyring Research Institute at BYU invented Dynix, a library software company that revolutionized the modern library.

*

The story of Dynix starts with Dr. Gary Carlson. Early in the 60s, the Mormons changed how they did temple work for the dead — the practice that has garnered controversy when Mormons posthumously baptized Anne Frank and Adolf Hitler into the church. A good Mormon has a series of ceremonies they must complete during their life must be done in a particular order — baptism, washing, anointing, endowment, sealing. Before the 60s, when the Mormons would do these ceremonies by proxy for the dead, they were also completed in this order. However, with temple work expanding across the church, rigorously adhering to the order of ceremonies was becoming impractical. The church hired Dr. Carlson to build data processing software that would centralize church records in the church’s data networks so that Mormons could do proxy temple ceremonies out of order.

BYU hired Dr. Carlson in 1968 to run the Computer Science department. Immediately Dr. Carlson supercharged the nascent department. He pushed BYU to buy its first supercomputer, the IBM 7030 “Stretch," originally designed by Edward Teller for nuclear bomb calculations at Los Alamos. He participated in the World Conference on Records, a Richard Nixon approved seminar series on preserving records through all sorts of calamities — revolution, war, civil disturbance, Armageddon.

Dr. Carlson worked on data management while other members of the Computer Science department were developing software to rapidly translate the Book of Mormon into foreign languages. Dr. Eldon Lytle applied his linguistic theories to the challenge, eventually reusing his work to develop the language learning curriculum at the Missionary Training Center. Another scientist, Bruce Weidner, allegedly reused his translation software to help invent WordPerfect. 

BYU could see that computer software could become a lucrative field and founded the Computer Translation Institute (CTI) to market the byproducts of its computer science research. BYU had the Eyring Research Institute (ERI), their official defense research arm, conduct most of the research that went into CTI products. Technically, the ERI and CTI weren't part of the Computer Science department, but BYU employees bounced between these entities so much that it’s not clear where one ends and one begins.

CTI is a hard organization to track down. Not only does it have the most generic name possible, but BYU barely even acknowledges that it existed. They have a file listed in their archives, but no mention of the Institute on their website. Despite the name implying that they focused on translation, CTI turned its attention to record storage and data management, especially in the library context. BYU was looking to computerize its library but, finding the available software unsatisfactory, decided to invent its own through the CTI Library Division.

After successfully implementing the new system at BYU, the administrators started marketing their new software. They charged Gary Carlson to prepare the software for market, calling it Dynix. This fact comes from Wikipedia, but I believe that whoever wrote the page was connected to Dynix's history. They say Dynix was “presided over” by Dr. Carlson. That’s a very Mormon way to describe somebody founding a computer company.

**

CTI or the Eyring Research Institute or the BYU Computer Science department — as if there was much difference between them — got to work on the new software and company. They brought in Walter Nichols from AT&T to program the new software using the PICK OS, an operating system designed for controlling the spare part inventory for the AH-56 Cheyenne experimental attack helicopter. The Cheyenne flopped, but PICK lived on.

By the way, it was invented by a guy named — I shit you not — Dick Pick.

Basically, Dynix automated a library’s catalog by keeping digital records of all the books, their details, their physical location, etc. Instead of relying on library workers, patrons could directly use Dynix consoles to locate their books. 

Dynix’s big innovation was centralizing the library server. Comparable software required each library to have a complete hardware and software installation, which was prohibitively expensive for cash-strapped library districts. Dynix, on the other hand, only required one server connected to the Dynix systems in each library branch.

This was a godsend, slashing hardware requirements and costs. With only one server, the districts could rapidly computerize all their branches and scale the system. As a plus, Dynix showed where an item was physically located, and transfers were recorded in the system, making interlibrary loans a breeze.

When it went to market Dynix coupled its software with specially designed dumb terminals. Once again, this drove down costs. A library didn’t need full computers to access the Dynix server, just cheap terminals. Scalable, centralized, and a great deal; that’s what Dynix offered libraries. You’ll notice that these traits are also beneficial for centralizing computerized records about Mormon church members.

Dynix Terminal (Wikipedia)

***

The Utah Supreme Court stripped the ERI of its non-profit status in 1979. The ERI had conveniently written into its bylaws that if it was ever stripped of its tax-exempt status it would be handed over to the official Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. For a few months the Mormons sat on their defense research institute until spinning it off into a for-profit enterprise. Now the ERI could earn its cash.

By 1983 the Eyring Research Institute was spinning off its different research arms into new companies. CTI split off to market its own systems but fell flat on its face and started selling hardware instead. Dr. Lytle created the Automated Language Processing System, and Bruce Weidner marketed his own translation system. Paul Sybrowsky co-founded Dynix and accepted a contract with the Kershaw County, South Carolina library district before the software was even completed. According to him:

There was no software, no product. Undaunted, we pitched our plan to create an automated library system for a public library in South Carolina. We didn't have a product, but we said “You need a system and we'd like to bid on it,” and showed them our business plan.

Of all the spin-offs, Dynix was the most immediately successful. The Kershaw County installation went great, and more customers wanted the software. Profits skyrocketed for Dynix and its parent organization, the Eyring Research Institute. 

But Dynix wasn’t the only library system that the ERI was interested in. They established Eyring Library Systems to market CARL, a comparable library system from the Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries. Before the ERI bought the system, it had been implemented in six Colorado universities and stored 1.5 million records. CARL ran on Tandem computers and used dialup to communicate between libraries — an early version of the World Wide Web.

ERI’s double dipping didn’t last long. After only a year of marketing two competing library automation systems, the original Dynix crew bought their company from the ERI. This seems extremely weird to me because all these people were working together for the same organizations. It feels like insider trading. To recap, the ERI:

• Funded the research that built the Dynix system under the auspices of BYU

• Spun off Dynix into its own company, while remaining its parent company

• Dynix employees then bought out the company from the ERI (an organization that many of them were presumably still a part of) a few years later

Checks out.

****

Before we get to the 21st century, let's take a detour down Sybrowsky’s late career. It opens up yet another underexplored Mormon rabbit hole.

After leaving Dynix, Sybrowsky began working his way into the Mormon hierarchy. He served on the President's Leadership Council for BYU and BYU-Hawaii. He also was the chair of the Provo Library Board, a commissioner for the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, and the chairman of the board of trustees at Utah Valley University. 

Sybrowsky working at the NCCU is interesting to me. Anybody who’s attended a church school with eyes open, especially BYU-Idaho, has asked themselves how these schools maintain their accreditation. The universities constantly slash programs to squeeze in more religious classes, with most of these classes focusing on studying easily disproved Mormon scriptures or just straight-up teaching anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. The church itself even acknowledges that it is on thin ice. The Salt Lake Tribune reported that during a speech at BYU Mormon apostle Jeffrey Holland confirmed that:

If maintaining the faith’s policy on LGBTQ members — that it’s not a sin to have same-sex attraction but acting on it is — costs the school some “professional associations and certifications,” Holland said, “then so be it.”

Well, accreditation is a regional thing. NCCU has now been merged with another entity, but look at the states it covered: Washington, Oregon, Montana, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, and Alaska. Except for Alaska, these states are either majority Mormon or have large Mormon populations. Who do you think made their way into the NCCU?

Sybrowsky did a good job bringing money to the Mormon church and was rewarded. In 2005 Sybrowsky joined the Second Quorum of the Seventy, one of the top positions in the Mormon hierarchy. At this point you start making money directly from the church, but unlike other positions, the Second Quorum only serves for a short time. He left in 2011 to become the president of Southern Virginia University.

If you haven’t heard of SVU, don’t worry, you’re not alone — even most Mormons haven’t heard of it. SVU is a bootleg BYU that the church doesn’t officially run under the Church Education System umbrella. Originally it wasn’t affiliated with the Mormon church, but in the 80s and 90s the financial situation at the college was so bad that the board of trustees sold the school off to a new board. This one, led by real hospitality estate investor Glade Knight, was exclusively Mormon. 

Since then, the school has maintained an “affiliation” with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. That’s the official line, but the school operates just like a BYU. To quote the official website:

Southern Virginia University is a gathering place for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. More than 9-in-10 of our students are Latter-day Saints and 1-in-3 are Returned Missionaries. Every student commits to a Code of Honor based on the principles and values of the Church.

As with most LDS institutions, the school leaders are almost all rich Mormons, General Authorities, or retired General Authorities like Sybrowsky.

The current president of SVU is Reed Wilcox. He’s an old friend of Mitt Romney — they knew each other at BYU and worked together at the Boston Consulting Group. Mitt Romney was recruited for the job by Kenneth Woolley, another BYU grad and future president of the Moscow, Russia LDS mission.

Wilcox has started various ventures, but his most famous business was Lifelike Co., the company that manufactured those creepy My Twinn dolls from the 90s. When the company started losing money, Romney transferred $2.1 million from Bain Capital to shore up his friend’s business. Romney denies this, since he says that he stopped working on investment strategy with Bain Capital before the transfer. 

Unfortunately for the two friends, My Twinn’s luck didn’t improve. Their catalog for Christmas 2001 went out in early September. Americans ended up focusing more on another set of twins, and Lifelike Co. folded. You can only fall up in Mormon business, so now Reed Wilcox is the president of SVU.

The SVU Board of Trustees is still all Mormon, here are the top listed members:

• L. Hugh Redd - A top executive in Glade Knight’s company

• Ann Christensen - Daughter of Clay Christensen, the famous investor and General Authority, and current president of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation

• Mark Fuchs - A Mormon Silicon Valley investor

• Bruce L. Olsen - Former global Managing Director of Public Affairs for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

• Buddy Stoddard - Member of the Marriott School of Business advisory board

The board also includes Ahmed Corbitt, an active General Authority for the church.

*****

Out the gate Dynix pursued a strategy of targeting smaller library networks instead of marketing immediately to the big hitters, like the libraries in New York City. They found unparalleled success. According to this source:

Analysis of the 10 years of statistics show that Dynix is the current leader among library system vendors. In 1990, Dynix Installed 171 systems which was almost 1/3 (31%) of all new systems installed in that year. Including these installs, Dynix reported 478 total installed systems which is approximately 17% of all installed systems. Dynix has 143 more systems installed than the second place contender, CLSI. Various vendors have held the lead over the years but at the end of the decade, Dynix held a significant lead among the vendors of automated library systems.

Dynix led the pack, with another library company — CLSI — coming in a close second. Eyring Library Systems continued to push on, although it only installed a handful of systems. Revenue figures are unavailable, but the ERI proper pulled in $10 million a year in 1988. In third place was GEAC, a computer conglomerate that acquired ALII Systems. This library company was founded by Bruce Park, a person I can’t find much about. Oddly, the Wikipedia page for Dynix mentions that Bruce Park was an employee of CTI during Dynix's early days. I can’t track down verification on that, and the Wikipedia page doesn’t list a source. But, as I mentioned above, I have reason to believe that the Dynix page is written by somebody who was involved in the company. If the page is correct, the ERI created, funded, or provided research infrastructure to multiple competing library automation ventures. 

Dynix software in use.

And remember, as long as the people involved are active, tithe-paying Mormons, the church is skimming off 10% of the revenue from these companies directly, untaxed, into its coffers.

With so much money to be made, big companies got interested in this niche software environment. In 1992 Ameritech (now AT&T Teleholdings) acquired Dynix. Back in the early 80s, AT&T had let Walter Nichols code Dynix under contract for the ERI, and now it looks like they were made good on that little investment. Ameritech bought another competing library system (NOTIS) and merged it with Dynix to form Ameritech Library Automation Services. In 1994, they named Paul Sybrowsky as General Manager. Four months later Ameritech divested itself of NOTIS and formed Ameritech Library Services as its own company. Sybrowsky was named president. By the late 90s the company was headquartered back in Provo, Utah.

Concurrently with all this corporate juggling, Eyring Library Systems sold off CARL to the Knight Ridder media conglomerate, not to be confused with Knight Rider, the David Hasselhoff vehicle that was — coincidentally — created by a Mormon. 

In 1999 Ameritech Library Services got acquired, had its name changed, but in 2002 went back to calling themselves Dynix. All good things come to an end though. By the 2000s, the World Wide Web had established itself, and old-school library systems were rapidly becoming obsolete. As internet-based library networks took over, Dynix found itself falling behind. It still had the majority market share, but everybody could see the writing on the wall. To survive in the new millennium, Dynix merged with the company Sirsi, renaming themselves SirsiDynix. 

That’s where Dynix is today. The SirsiDynix headquarters is in Lehi, Utah, just off the I-15 near the Museum of Natural Curiosity at Thanksgiving Point. The company has established itself in the Silicon Slopes ecosystem, with a good chunk of the company leadership being either BYU or University of Utah graduates. Since they now work with the college library giant EBSCO, if you’ve attended an American university in the last decade, you’ve probably used technology connected in some way to SirsiDynix, which traces its roots all the way back to Mormon attempting to centralize temple record collection.

Dynix was a damn good investment for the Mormon church. The church was able to get in early on a burgeoning market, using tithe payer funded university research to develop the lucrative software and rewarding those who brought it to market with high positions within the church hierarchy.

The quest to automate Mormonism continues to this day. Just a few months ago the church took advantage of the ChatGPT craze to roll out a gospel question answering chatbot. It’s another sign that in the ideal Mormon world, computers will translate their scriptures, teach their missionary lessons, track member movement, and store vast genealogical records in nuke-proof bunkers. The ongoing Restoration, at the click of a mouse.