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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal>Hello SIGCIS members,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>This is just a short note following the SIGCIS workshop earlier this month. You may remember my earlier message covering the SIGCIS-sponsored sessions and other related material on the main program. <a href="http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/2013-October/942792.html">http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/2013-October/942792.html</a> According to SHOT’s recent strategic study group, history of computing and information technology is now the largest single area for SHOT presentations and they covered a diverse range of topics.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>The SIGCIS Lunch on Friday, the first full day of SHOT, was attended by about 45 people including a good crop of new members. Pictures from the lunch and several of the SIGCIS sponsored sessions are available at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.590645560999090.1073741829.174987995898184&type=1&l=9090ff3189">https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.590645560999090.1073741829.174987995898184&type=1&l=9090ff3189</a>. This is on Facebook but no login or account is needed to see them.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>SIGCIS raised $1,520 during the lunch, which I think is a record. This money is used primarily to fund partial travel grants for graduate students. This year we made awards totaling $2,600 to six students. Thanks to the generosity of our members. In particular to MIT Press and Jim Cortada for donating books for the auction and to Prof. Emeritus Richard Tedlow of the Harvard Business School for funding two travel awards in the name of the Computer History Museum.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>We began the launch of Phase II of our Mahoney Fund campaign <a href="http://www.sigcis.org/mahoney">http://www.sigcis.org/mahoney</a> with the objective of increasing the balance from the current $14,000 or so to at least $20,000. This would allow the fund to effectively endow a new $500 annual prize for an outstanding article in the history of computing, as well as its current role in supporting awards for graduate student travel. As Mahoney made his contribution to our field through articles this will be a particularly fitting way to remember him. Look for more news on this front next month.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>I also reminded everyone that the clock was now running on our transition to chair-elect Andrew Russell, who will take over during the Friday lunch at the 2014 SHOT meeting in Dearborn, Michigan. We have plans to make the 2014 workshop a little different, and are trying to engage with the various communities studying coding, platforms, video games, etc. Planning is still at a very early stage, but let me know if you would like to be involved in this effort.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>On Sunday, after the end of the main conference, we held our full day workshop on “Old Ideas: Recomputing the History of Technology.” <a href="http://www.sigcis.org/workshop13">www.sigcis.org/workshop13</a>. The opening plenary attracted more than 40 people, with others coming and going during the course of the day. Bill Aspray’s opening keynote on the “Many Histories of Information” was well received, as was the closing plenary panel “An Ancient Continent as a New Frontier: Discovering that Computing has a History in Asia”.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Pictures from the workshop events are online (no login required) at <a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.590598204337159.1073741828.174987995898184&type=1&l=c859c6a734">https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.590598204337159.1073741828.174987995898184&type=1&l=c859c6a734</a>. If you are a Facebook user then please “Like” our pictures and other material, as this provides an important kind of publicity. We would also welcome your help in tagging those you recognize on the pictures – I made a start on this but did not get everyone.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>We presented the 2013 Computer History Museum Prize for an outstanding book on the history of computing to Joseph November for his book Biomedical Computing. <a href="http://www.sigcis.org/chmprize">http://www.sigcis.org/chmprize</a>. According to the prize jury<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>In the mid-twentieth century, digital computers began to transform biomedicine. In Biomedical Computing, Joseph November presents an original and compelling account of the processes by which diverse communities in biology and medicine came to embrace digital methods and machines. Furthermore, while historians have demonstrated the influence of physical sciences on early computing, November also demonstrates the forgotten ways in which the demands of biomedical communities shaped computing. In addition to bringing an often neglected scientific community into clear view for historians of computing, Biomedical Computing establishes an important dialogue with the history of science. While historians of technology and business have found ample reason to study computing, Biomedical Computing makes the computer--and thus the history of computing--relevant for science and medicine audiences in general. We expect it to enjoy a broad readership, and to inspire new kinds of computer history.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in'><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>SIGCIS participants ate well in Portland. The IEEE History Committee and the IEEE History Center kindly sponsored lunch for participants in the SIGCIS workshop and other Sunday events, during which we had a chance to discuss topics of interest around the history of engineering and engineering education. After the workshop, a group of 22 historians headed out for our relaxing dinner at nearby Local 188. This is always one of the highlights of the meeting for me, as it gives a chance to chat with colleagues new and old in a relaxed environment after my official duties have been discharged.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Thanks to all of you for your various contributions over the past few years to the success of SIGCIS as most active SHOT interest group and an important resource for historians of information technology around the world. I look forward to welcoming you to Dearborn at our lunch next year… and then placing you in Andy’s capable hands for the rest of the meeting.<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Best wishes,<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><br>Tom<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>