May 2009 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

CFP Oral history Summer School - Deadline extended to May 27, 2009
by Petri Paju 13 May '09

13 May '09

Call for Papers - Deadline extended to May 27, 2009 "Oral History and Technological Memory: Challenges in Studying European Pasts" Summer School, 10–15 August 2009, University of Turku, Finland See description and details in: http://www.hum.utu.fi/oppiaineet/kulttuurihistoria/memory.html How to apply: Applicants are to send a cover letter, a CV and a motivation letter, addressing the applicant’s interest in the issues related to the topic of the Summer School by May, 27, 2009 to Prof. Hannu Salmi, email: hansalmi(a)utu.fi. They will be informed about acceptance no later than June 1, 2009. Contact For further information, contact Dr. Petri Paju, Dept. of Cultural History, University of Turku, FI-20014 Turku, Finland, email: petpaju(a)utu.fi. Sponsors * European Science Foundation * Foundation for the History of Technology (the Netherlands) * Research project Using IBM in Europe to Recapture the Lead (Academy of Finland), part of a European consortium Software for Europe (ESF) * Department of Cultural History, University of Turku, Finland

2 1

Fwd: FW: Bletchley Park update
by Brian Randell 13 May '09

13 May '09

>From: Council of Professors and Heads of Computing in UK >universities [mailto:cphc-members@JISCMAIL.AC.UK] On Behalf Of Sue >Black >Sent: Tuesday 12 May 2009 22:25 >To: cphc-members(a)JISCMAIL.AC.UK >Subject: Bletchley Park update > >Dear all, > >Yesterday I spent the day at Bletchley Park with Stephen Fry and >others. I contacted Stephen via Twitter last February after >realising that he was interested in Bletchley Park. > >I have blogged about it here www.savingbletchleypark.org > >Rory Cellan Jones who was with us yesterday has blogged about it >here on the BBC news website: Bletchley Park - the Fry effect ><http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2009/05/bletchley_park_the_fry_effect…> > >In January I took some social media gurus to Bletchley Park to show >them what a wonderful place it is and yesterday Christian Payne took >some fabulous photos which you can see here on his Flickr pages. ><http://www.flickr.com/photos/christianpayne/> > >Stephen Fry has said that he is in for the long haul in terms of >saving Bletchley Park and I believe that his involvement will make a >considerable difference to the public awareness and hopefully >pressure on government to give substantial and sustained funding to >Bletchley Park. > >Thanks again very much to everyone for your supportive messages and >for signing the petition. > >Best regards > >Sue > >-- >Dr Sue Black, Head of Department, University of Westminster, UK. > >Homepage: www.sueblack.co.uk > >Blog: savingbletchleypark.org -- School of Computing Science, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 7RU, UK EMAIL = Brian.Randell(a)ncl.ac.uk PHONE = +44 191 222 7923 FAX = +44 191 222 8232 URL = http://www.cs.ncl.ac.uk/people/brian.randell

1 0

Write biographies for Annals.
by Thomas Haigh 12 May '09

12 May '09

Hello everyone, I am writing to encourage you to submit material for the biographies department of IEEE Annals of the History of Computing (www.computer.org/annals) which I've been editing since 2002. There is currently no queue of material, giving a great opportunity for people to see their work in print in the near future. You can read all the details at http://www.tomandmaria.com/tom/resources/annalsbiographies.htm But briefly: biographies should be carefully researched, add some new information or perspectives, and be 2,000 to 3,000 words in length. Subjects do not have to be dead, and in fact about half of our subjects are still alive. Researching a good biography is a lot of work, and so I encourage you to think of making a biography an initial or additional publication as part of a broader project. Having done the research on a particular story or institution it is common to learn a lot about the lives of individuals, but often this material is not fully used in the main book or article. You may also find yourself ready to contribute a biography at a relatively early state in the overall project. Biographies can also be peer reviewed on request. (As departmental articles the default is a speedier process where you work directly with me on revisions). This might be particularly attractive to those of you getting your publications counted for tenure or other review processes. Annals is widely indexed, and available at pretty much all research universities via the IEEE Digital Library. Best wishes, Tom Haigh

1 0

History of computing days, FUNDP, Namur, Belgium, 18-19/5/2009
by Sandra Mols 11 May '09

11 May '09

With apologies for crossposting and for the late notice. Dear colleague, We have the pleasure to invite you to the "Computing History" Day and Workshop of these coming 18-19/5/2009, to be held at the Informatics Faculty, at the University of Namur, Belgium. On the 18th of May, we will have: - A presentation by Gerard Alberts, Professor at the University of Amsterdam on the history of programming and software - A presentation on the Machine Mathématique IRSIA-FNRS, electronic computer built in Belgium (1951-1962), in the Antwerp offices of the Bell Telephone Mfg Cy - And a round table and discussions with Belgian informatics pioneers. The working language of this day will mostly be French. On May 19th the programme includes talks on Belgian science and technology and computing history and time for discussions on computing history in Belgium and the Netherlands and its issues and future perspectives. Working languages for this day will be French and English Further information on these events can be found as attachement and at the following web address: http://www.info.fundp.ac.be/~smo/BCHDays/Alberts&Soft-EU_18052009_v.7_0518+… Registration for these events is free of charge. With best wishes, Sandra Mols

1 0

books on history of the Internet
by Ceruzzi, Paul 11 May '09

11 May '09

Paul E.: It is unfortunate that the price, and heft, of our book on _The Internet & American Commerce_ may discourage its use for courses. However, MIT Press is making it available as a .pdf download--you have to pay, but it is not as much and may be more comfortable for today's generation of students, who are loathe to purchase old-fashioned books. I don't have the URL, but I think you can find it through MIT Press's web site. The book may also be available as an illegal download from a Chinese web site, but I am not going to go there! Talk about a teachable moment. Best, Paul Ceruzzi ________________________________ From: members-bounces(a)sigcis.org on behalf of members-request(a)sigcis.org Sent: Fri 5/8/2009 6:41 PM To: members(a)sigcis.org Subject: Members Digest, Vol 15, Issue 4 Send Members mailing list submissions to members(a)sigcis.org To subscribe or unsubscribe via the World Wide Web, visit http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members or, via email, send a message with subject or body 'help' to members-request(a)sigcis.org You can reach the person managing the list at members-owner(a)sigcis.org When replying, please edit your Subject line so it is more specific than "Re: Contents of Members digest..." Today's Topics: 1. Re: Introducing myself (Geoffrey C. Bowker) 2. Re: Introducing myself (Thomas Haigh) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Message: 1 Date: Fri, 08 May 2009 14:35:49 -0700 From: "Geoffrey C. Bowker" <gbowker(a)scu.edu> Subject: Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Introducing myself To: Paul Edwards <pne(a)umich.edu> Cc: members(a)sigcis.org Message-ID: <4A04A5B5.8030401(a)scu.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="windows-1252" Hi Paul, Good questions all - I'll be interested in the response. Henry Lowood has some nice stuff at http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/lowood.html, though I suspect you know this already. Doug Engelbart's demo is on the web. I could set up a skype session with Regis McKenna, who knows SV backwards. There was a Nova or BBC series which I heard good reports on, but I forget the details. Exciting is hard to come by in general though. Laura de Nardis' excellent new work on internet names will not be accessible enough I fear. There's also The Wealth of Networks, though I'm not too attuned to the analysis - http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/wealth_of_networks/Main_Page. take care, geof Paul Edwards wrote: > All - > > I'm getting ready to teach an undergrad course (juniors and seniors) > on "History of Computers and the Internet" for the first time in 7 years. > > I'm looking for suggestions on three things: > > 1) A recent book on the history of personal computers that's > well-written and exciting for undergrads. I used to use Fire in the > Valley, but that's very dated now. > > 2) On history of the Internet, I've been using Janet Abbate's > Inventing the Internet for years. It's a great book but somewhat > inaccessible for undergrads, and now a bit dated. > > 3) Books or articles -- again, exciting for undergrads -- on history > of the WWW. Please, not Tim Berners-Lee's awesomely self-centered memoir. > > Thanks for any and all. > > - Paul > ????????????????? > Paul N. Edwards, Assoc. Professor of Information > > School of Information > 3078 West Hall > University of Michigan > 1085 South University Ave. > Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1107 > (734) 764-2617 (office) > (206) 337-1523 (fax) > http://www.si.umich.edu/~pne/ <http://www.si.umich.edu/%7Epne/> >

2 1

Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Introducing myself
by Armand Van Dormael 09 May '09

09 May '09

Dear Colleagues, It is a great pleasure for me to join Sigcis. I hope I can make a contribution to your research. Several eminent historians have drawn attention to major gaps in the history of computing. Much of computing technology was developed in Europe, but its originators are not recognized even in their home country. Since Europe has no computer industry, historians have not been interested. On February 24, 2003, the New York Times published an article titled: Herbert F. Mataré. An Inventor of the Transistor Has His Moment. Fifty-five years after the fact, this was the first time Mataré was given credit for his work. In 1986, the Boston Computer Museum held a contest to determine who invented the microcomputer. The Micral created by François Gernelle was recognized as the first commercially distributed microcomputer. . Both Mataré and Gernelle have provided me with ample documentation and information about their work. My forthcoming book The Silicon Revolution explores this unmapped area of history. It constitutes a documented analysis and a coherent narrative of the development of computing in the United States, Europe and Asia. Please see:/http://www.avandor.net IEEE paper The French Transistor. NY Times: Herbert F. Mataré. An Inventor of the Transistor Has His Moment. Armand Van Dormael 33A Drève de la Meute 1410 Waterloo Belgium Tel/fax +32 2 354 96 63 a.vandormael(a)skynet.be

6 5

Call for ICOHTEC & TICCIH Joint Conference 2010, Reusing the Industrial Past
by Petri Paju 09 May '09

09 May '09

Call for Poster, Papers and Sessions ICOHTEC & TICCIH Joint Conference 2010 Reusing the Industrial Past 10–15 August 2010 Tampere, Finland A Joint Conference between the International Committee for the History of Technology (ICOHTEC) and The International Committee for the Conservation of the Industrial Heritage (TICCIH). The International Association of the Labour Museums (WORKLAB) is a minor partner in the conference. Deadline for Proposals is 16 November 2009. Conference language: English As a joint conference, the primary theme ‘Reusing the Industrial Past’ is intended to be a broad idea covering various approaches. Clearly, the industrial past is reused whenever old industrial installations are renovated or adapted. There have been many attempts to preserve the most significant aspects of old industrial areas after productive activity has ceased, by giving them a new viable function. However, the idea of reusing the industrial past need not stop there. Old industrial and handicraft technology can also be reintroduced and reused in manufacturing various products or in explaining how they work to the public in exhibitions. Various kinds of ‘retroproducts’ are now in vogue, while people are looking for alternative technological solutions for plastics, electronics, concrete, artificial chemicals and fertilisers. Knowledge of old technologies is in demand. What technologies do historians suggest could be reused? Manufacturing still has a strong impact on culture, working habits and ethics. The industrial past and obsolete technologies are also present in the way people think and use their language. For instance, “put the small pulley on” continues to be used as a metaphor in British English for speeding up. Similar examples can be found in other languages as well. For social historians, it would be interesting to discover practices and ethics of factory work that continue to be used in offices and shops today. The culture of work seems to change more slowly than work itself and technology in use. The conference programme will include scientific and plenary sessions, poster presentations, business meetings and general assemblies of the organising societies, excursions, social events such as receptions and the banquet, and pre- and post-conference trips. The premises of the University of Tampere and the historical industrial buildings on the in the City Centrum will serve as conference venues. Conference Subthemes In order to make the conference theme as strong as possible, the programme committees have decided that all papers must fit within one of the following sub-themes (which must be indicated on the proposal). The bullet points under the subthemes are simply examples of topics that fit into the each subtheme. Papers need not deal specifically with a particular bullet point: 1. Nuts and Bolts Keep on Rolling • Deindustrialisation and restructuring: Threat or opportunity? • Stubborn technologies: Resistance to change • Technological outcasts: Products and solutions rejected by consumers • Technological comeback: Retroproducts and retrodesign • Reinventing the industrial past: Innovations that never existed • Legitimising competitiveness: Political and economic actions to support technological image and performance • Processes in change: Technology of textile manufacturing and papermaking 2. Artefacts and Experiences in Transition: Challenges for Industrial Heritage • Canonisation of the symbols of industrial revolutions • Living and dead industrial landscapes • Regeneration through heritage • Reuse of industrial environments • Societal aims for the conservation of industrial heritage • Adapting technology and reforming industrial heritage • Contested pasts - the heritage of science, technology and industry in geo-political conflict 3. Social History of Industry • Reinterpretations of the First Industrial Revolution • Social history of factory work • Identities of blue-collar workers and white-collar workers in industry • People and machines in industrial history • Masculine machines and female labour: Gender in industry • Local experiences: changes in work, vanishing employment, emerging opportunities • Twins astray? Labour history and industrial history • Serfs of looms and slaves of mobile phones 4. Cultural History of Technology • Emotions and machines: Adored and hated technologies • Technological optimism and pessimism • Company cultures: Breaks and continuity • Ethics of factory work • Workers’ culture: Legitimising hard work • Long shadow of history: Influence of the industrial past in our present way of life • Fossilisation of factory rhetoric in language • Exploiting images of the industrial past 5. Environmental History of Industrialisation and Deindustrialisation • Harnessing nature: Environmental exploitation • Interdependence of energy and mechanisation in the smoke-stack industries • Smoke-stack industry as an environmental burden • Environmental heritage of the First Industrial Revolution • Environmental consequences of deindustrialisation 6. Museums and Industrial Memories • Collection policies for the industrial era • New perspectives for exhibiting industrial heritage • Challenges for museums in the postindustrial society • Museum architecture in old factories Proposal Guidelines We urge contributors to consider organizing a full session of three or more papers. Individual paper submissions will, of course, be considered. Note: Membership of ICOHTEC, TICCIH, or WORKLAB is not required to participate in the conference. INDIVIDUAL PAPER proposals must include: (1) a 250-word (maximum) abstract in English; and (2) a one-page CV. Abstracts should include the author’s name and email address, a short descriptive title, a concise statement of the thesis, a brief discussion of the sources, and a summary of the major conclusions. Please indicate one of the specified subthemes for your paper. In preparing your paper, remember that presentations are not full-length articles. You will have no more than 15-20 minutes to speak – depending on the number of speakers in your session – which is roughly equivalent to 6-8 double-spaced typed pages. Contributors are encouraged to submit full-length versions of their papers after the conference for consideration by ICOHTEC’s journal ICON or TICCIH’s journal Industrial Patrimony. For more suggestions about preparing your conference presentation, please consult the guidelines at the conference web site: http://www.tampere.fi/industrialpast2010. SESSION proposals must include: (1) an abstract of the session (250 words maximum), listing the proposed papers and a session chairperson; (2) abstracts for each paper (250 words maximum); (3) a one-page CV for each contributor and chairperson. Sessions should consist of three or four speakers and may include several sections of three to four speakers each, which might extend over more than one day. We also encourage "untraditional" session or roundtable proposals. POSTER proposals must include (1) a 250-word (maximum) abstract in English; and (2) a one-page CV. Abstracts should include the author’s name and email address, a short descriptive title, a concise statement of the thesis, a brief discussion of the sources, and a summary of the major conclusions. Please indicate one of the specified subthemes for your poster. Proposal submissions The final deadline for all submissions is Monday 16 November 2009. Please submit proposals for papers and sessions via the website of the Tampere conference at http://www.tampere.fi/industrialpast2010. If web access is unavailable, proposals may be sent by fax to ICOHTEC 2010 at: +358 (0) 3 5656 6808. Otherwise they may be sent via regular mail or courier, postmarked not later than 9 November 2009. The mail address is: ICOHTEC 2010 c/o Museum Centre Vapriikki PL 487 Alaverstaanraitti 5 33101 Tampere Finland All questions about the programme proposals should be submitted to the local organizing committee, icohtecticcih2010(a)tampere.fi. Queries about the conference venue should be made to the same address. Further information on host organisations: ICOHTEC: http://www.icohtec.org/ TICCIH: http://www.mnactec.cat/ticcih/ WORKLAB: http://www.worklab.dk/ University of Tampere: http://www.uta.fi/english/ Museum Centre Vapriikki: http://www.tampere.fi/english/vapriikki/index.html The Finnish Labour Museum Werstas: http://www.tyovaenmuseo.fi/?q=en ================== Transmitted by Timo Myllyntaus General Secretary of ICOHTEC -- Petri Paju, FT, tutkija, Turun yliopisto -- Ph.D. Researcher, Univ. of Turku http://users.utu.fi/petpaju/

1 0

Re: [SIGCIS-Members] The Silicon Revolution
by Armand Van Dormael 08 May '09

08 May '09

Hello everyone, I am finishing a book titled The Silicon Revolution. A preview can be seen on Google by clicking my name or Armand Van Dormael Home Page. Your questions and comments are welcome. Armand Armand Van Dormael 33A Drève de la Meute 1410 Waterloo Belgium www.avandor.net a.vandormael(a)skynet.be

1 0

Re: [SIGCIS-Members] Introducing myself
by Christine Aicardi 07 May '09

07 May '09

Hi I quite like Ted Friedman (2005) 'Electric Dreams: Computers in American Culture' -- it is a well-written, very approachable cultural history of the personal computer in the US. Christine Aicardi Department of Science & Technology Studies University College London > All - > > I'm getting ready to teach an undergrad course (juniors and seniors) > on "History of Computers and the Internet" for the first time in 7 > years. > > I'm looking for suggestions on three things: > > 1) A recent book on the history of personal computers that's well- > written and exciting for undergrads. I used to use Fire in the Valley, > but that's very dated now. > > 2) On history of the Internet, I've been using Janet Abbate's > Inventing the Internet for years. It's a great book but somewhat > inaccessible for undergrads, and now a bit dated. > > 3) Books or articles -- again, exciting for undergrads -- on history > of the WWW. Please, not Tim Berners-Lee's awesomely self-centered > memoir. > > Thanks for any and all. > > - Paul > > Paul N. Edwards, Assoc. Professor of Information > > School of Information > 3078 West Hall > University of Michigan > 1085 South University Ave. > Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1107 > (734) 764-2617 (office) > (206) 337-1523 (fax) > http://www.si.umich.edu/~pne/ > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > This email is relayed from members(a)sigcis.org, the email discussion list > of SHOT SIGCIS. The list archives are at > http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/ and you can change your subscription > options at http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members

1 0