[SIGCIS-Members] Origins of "archive" in computer science

David Alan Grier grier at email.gwu.edu
Thu Jul 26 11:37:12 PDT 2018


Matthew 
	May be newer than that.  It’s not in the early IEEE glossaries and doesn’t appear in the professional literature (ACM, JCC or IEEE) until the mid 70s.  It may date to the time when Codd’s ideas were starting to disseminate through the industry and tape ceased to be the principle medium for databases.  

David


> On Jul 26, 2018, at 2:23 PM, Matthew Kirschenbaum <mkirschenbaum at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> Dear all,
> 
> I'm trying to find early exemplars of the use of the word "archive" in computer systems contexts, whether as a noun to denote an element of computer  architecture (i.e., the archive disk or archive tape) or as a verb, i.e. "I've archived those files."
> 
> Examples might include the TAR ("Tape ARchive") format, Wang's nomenclature of an "archive disk" in its systems, and Gmail's early mantra, "Archive, Don't Delete." 
> 
> I'd love to run down some early instances of this sort of thing, which I assume goes back to the mainframe era.
> 
> Thank you--
> 
> -- 
> Matthew Kirschenbaum
> Professor of English and Digital Studies
> Director, Graduate Certificate in Digital Studies
> University of Maryland
> mkirschenbaum.net <http://mkirschenbaum.net/>
> 
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