February 2012 - Members - lists.sigcis.org

Call for Submissions: 2012 Computer History Museum Book Prize
by Marie Hicks 14 Feb '12

14 Feb '12

The Computer History Museum Prize is awarded to the author of an outstanding book in the history of computing broadly conceived, published during the prior three years. The prize of $1,000 is awarded by SIGCIS, the Special Interest Group for Computers, Information and Society. SIGCIS is part of the Society for the History of Technology. In 2012 the prize was endowed in perpetuity through a generous bequest for the estate of Paul Baran, an innovator and entrepreneur best known for his work on packet switching and networks. Baran was a longtime supporter of the history of information technology and the prize celebrates the contributions of the Computer History Museum to that field. 2012 Call for Submissions Books published in 2009-2011 are eligible for the 2012 award. Books in translation are eligible for three years following the date of their publication in English. Publishers, authors, and other interested members of the computer history community are invited to nominate books. Send one copy of the nominated title to each of the committee members listed below. To be considered, book submissions must be postmarked by 15 April 2012. For more information, please contact the prize committee chair, Prof. Jonathan Coopersmith (j-coopersmith(a)neo.tamu.edu) Current information about the prize, including the most recent call and a list of previous winners, can be found at: http://www.sigcis.org/chmprize. 2012 Prize Committee Members Jonathan Coopersmith (Chair): Associate Professor Department of History Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-4326 j-coopersmith(a)neo.tamu.edu Pierre Mounier-Kuhn: CNRS & Université Paris-Sorbonne 28 rue Serpente, 75006 Paris, France mounier(a)msh-paris.fr Rebecca Slayton: Visiting Assistant Professor, History of Science and Technology Program, University of Minnesota, 108 Pillsbury Hall, 310 Pillsbury Drive Southeast, Minneapolis, MN 55455 rslayton(a)umn.edu Previous Winners 2009: Christophe Lécuyer, Making Silicon Valley: Innovation and the Growth of High Tech, 1930-1970 (MIT Press, 2006) 2010: Atsushi Akera, Calculating a Natural World: Scientists, Engineers, and Computers During the Rise of U.S. Cold War Research (MIT Press, 2007) 2011: Paul N. Edwards, A Vast Machine: Computer Models, Climate Data, and the Politics of Global Warming (The MIT Press, 2010). _______________ Marie Hicks, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of History of Technology Lewis Department of the Humanities Illinois Institute of Technology Chicago, IL mhicks1(a)iit.edu twitter: @histoftech www.mariehicks.net

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A new computing history book
by dave.walden.family＠gmail.com 08 Feb '12

08 Feb '12

Hello, A book I co-edited, entitled A Culture of Innovation, has been published. See www.walden-family.com/bbn The second paragraph at the above URL explains what the book is and isn't with regard to being a computing history. The provenance section at the end of that web page explains that the book evolved from 12 articles originally published in the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing (and we are grateful to the IEEE Computer Society for permission to reuse that content). Best wishes, Dave

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Rebuilding the codebreaking computer Colossus at Bletchley Park
by Brian Randell 08 Feb '12

08 Feb '12

Hi: A new article has just appeared on the BBS News website on the Colossus rebuild project: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-beds-bucks-herts-16946839 Cheers Brian -- 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

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Possible Publishing Opportunity
by John Impagliazzo 07 Feb '12

07 Feb '12

Dear History Colleagues, I am not sure whether you are aware that Springer produces "Springer Briefs", a special line of short books. Although no royalty is involved, this series could be a way to publish noteworthy historical events in computing that would be accessible to a wide audience. The page count is limited to 125 pages maximum and the copyright for the work remains with the author. Publication is in paper copy and e-copy formats and the work would become part of Springer's publication listing and its digital library. If you have material that qualifies as a significant contribution to the literature, you may wish to consider this possibility. See the attached flyer and proposal form for further information. Best wishes, John P.S.: FYI, Springer/IFIP has recently published "Perspectives on Soviet and Russian Computing", which I helped to produce. For more information, see: http://www.springer.com/computer/general+issues/book/978-3-642-22815-5 John Impagliazzo, Ph.D. Professor Emeritus, Hofstra University IEEE Life Fellow; ACM Distinguished Educator Editor-in-Chief, ACM Inroads

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Fwd: software engineering
by Nathan Ensmenger 06 Feb '12

06 Feb '12

> > On Feb 3, 2012, at 10:12 AM, Brian Randell wrote: > > Prompted by a query from Professor Jochen Ludwig, I am seeking to find early uses of the term "software engineering". [My first attempt at a reply seems to have been rejected. My apologies if this is a repeat] The earliest reference to the term "software engineering" that I have come across was in a September 17, 1961 ad placed in the New York Times by the RCA Data Systems Division that advertises "important engineering positions to be filled in .... advanced software development engineering." It is not clear what RCA meant by "software engineering" in this context, and they seem to apply the title "engineering" to all of their open positions: data systems engineering, information storage and retrieval engineering, data systems planning engineering, and, of course, advanced software development engineering. This does not seem to be a deliberate attempt to shape a new discipline. I have attached a PDF of the original ad. There are other companies, such as GE (and, as Al Kossow notes, Honeywell) who adopted a similar engineering-oriented job taxonomy many years prior to the influential NATA conferences. -Nathan -- Nathan Ensmenger School of Information University of Texas at Austin www.ischool.utexas.edu/~nathan/

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CFP: HISTELCON 2012 in Italy
by Petri Paju 05 Feb '12

05 Feb '12

Dear all, This could be of interest to some list members (in CFP, they emphasize telecommunications but don't exclude other electrical technologies): HISTELCON 2012 The origins of electrotechnologies 5 - 7 September 2012 Pavia, Italy http://www.histelcon2012.org/ Deadline for papers is soon, 12 February. Best, Petri PS. Here are the proceedings of HISTELCON 2010 in Madrid: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/mostRecentIssue.jsp?punumber=5729271

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First uses of the term "Software Engineering"
by Brian Randell 03 Feb '12

03 Feb '12

Hi: Prompted by a query from Professor Jochen Ludwig, I am seeking to find early uses of the term "software engineering". Back in 1978, when I was writing my ICSE-4 paper "Software Engineering in 1968", I tried to find the first use. My recollection is that I found several that pre-dated the 1968 NATO Conference on Software Engineering, but unfortunately the only one I mentioned in my 1978 paper, and can now recall, was that by J.P. Eckert in the 1965 Fall Joint Computer Conference. (Computer programming 'would only be manageable,' he [Eckert] claimed, 'when we could refer to it as 'software engineering'.' - Nathan Ensmerger: The computer boys take over (MIT 2010).) There is little dispute that the 1968 NATO Conference brought the hitherto virtually unknown term into vogue, though many now fail to appreciate that the conference organisers, led by Prof Fritz Bauer, chose the term in order to express a need, rather than to claim the existence of a reality. (I do not know whether they were aware of any prior use.) To quote the 1968 Report: "The phrase ‘software engineering’ was deliberately chosen as being provocative, in implying the need for software manufacture to be based on the types of theoretical foundations and practical disciplines, that are traditional in the established branches of engineering." The question of when software engineering became a real discipline worthy of the name - if indeed it has - is a separate issue. My query merely concerns the term, not the alleged reality, and I would be grateful for citations of any other occurrences that preceded the NATO Software Engineering Conference (7-11 October 1968). Cheers Brian Randell -- 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

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CFP deadline March 18: 4S / EASST Copenhagen, October 17-20, 2012
by Thomas Haigh 02 Feb '12

02 Feb '12

See below for the 4S call for papers. Oddly this year’s meeting is occurring the same city as SHOT but separated in time by a couple of weeks. 4S is a lively, sociable, relatively youthful conference with a massive number of simultaneous sessions, time slots of about 10 minutes for each speaker, and a very high acceptance rate. The focus is primarily on present-day social/cultural/ethical issues around science and technology rather than history, although a number of SIGCIS members are often to be found on the program. The conference is broad in terms of methods and topics, with a lot of attention to biomedical issues. SIGCIS has previously organized sessions for several 4S meetings, so anyone who is interested should feel free to “reply to all” with possible topics to see if others are have matching interests. Tom From: webmaster(a)4sonline.org [mailto:webmaster@4sonline.org] Sent: Wednesday, January 18, 2012 8:34 PM To: thaigh(a)computer.org Subject: CFP: 4S / EASST Copenhagen, October 17-20, 2012 <https://netforum.avectra.com/public/EmailTrack.aspx?cli=SSSS&img=b50de7b7-5…> Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) October 17-20, 2012, Copenhagen Business School, Frederiksberg, Denmark Held jointly with European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST <http://www.easst.net/> ) CALL FOR PAPERS: “Design and displacement – social studies of science and technology” The quadrennial joint conference of The Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) and European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST) will take place October 17-20, 2012 in Copenhagen, Denmark. For the conference we invite papers that address the dynamics and interrelationships between science, technology and society. Papers which address the conference’s theme ‘Design and Displacement’ are especially relevant, but papers on any topic in STS are welcome. ‘Design’ has become a key concept across a multitude of disciplinary domains and social spheres. In addition to its traditional ‘aesthetic’ associations, it is now a key term in multiple scientific domains and in diverse technological practices. One can even think of societies and social arrangements being ‘designed’. In science and technology, ‘design’ implies the re-arrangement of materials and ideas for innovative purposes. When newly designed scientific and technical objects enter the world, however, their initial purposes are often displaced. For decades, STS researchers have been following the practical and political dimensions of science and technology. By focusing on concepts and practices of scientific and technological design at their sites of construction and on their multiple displacements, the 2012 conference continues this tradition. By bringing together ‘design’ and ‘displacement’ we want to highlight how scientific and technological design engages with existing socio-technical arrangements in both planned and unplanned ways, facilitating both collaborations and contestations, and generating both order and disorder. The conference encourages analytic, critical, and practical engagement with design and displacement in several ways. First, it points to the need for investigating the relation between design intentions and their displacements, for example as catalysts for change and conflict. It also highlights the importance of investigating design controversies. It locates design practices in broader political contexts, and focuses attention on how design facilitates or hinders social inclusion, locally and globally. The theme ‘Design and Displacement’ invites careful analyses of the way design practices take part in shaping worlds. However, ‘Design and Displacement’ also raises questions around STS as design work and practice-based interventions. In this sense design becomes simultaneously topic and outcome, a situation that raises new questions concerning the role of STS research. New this year, individual papers may be submitted to one or more “Open Panels”. The call for open panel themes received enthusiastic response from the community. 106 panels are available, which have been grouped into 10 subject clusters. View the full descriptions at http://www.4sonline.org/files/open_panels_12.pdf. Submit Paper and Session proposals now. All details at http://4sonline.org/meeting Signe Vikkelsø Scientific Program Chair meeting(a)4sonline.org This e-mail was sent from Society For Social Studies Of Science (webmaster(a)4sonline.org) to thaigh(a)computer.org. <https://netforum.avectra.com/public/EmailTrack.aspx?msm=2dd7c1e6-dc98-4c0f-…> To unsubscribe, please click on this link and follow the instructions: Unsubscribe <https://netforum.avectra.com/public/EmailUnsubscribe.aspx?msm=2dd7c1e6-dc98…> Society For Social Studies Of Science,126 Stubbs Hall Louisiana State University, Dept. Of Sociology Baton Rouge LA 70803-0100, Phone Number:(703) 241-7432, Fax Number: , Email Address: srcoffee(a)chaosabatement.com, Website : http://www.4sonline.org/

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Workshop on History of Information Science
by Thomas Haigh 02 Feb '12

02 Feb '12

See below. Note that while the American Society for Information Science added "& Technology" to its name some years ago the focus of its history group is very much on the history of information science rather than the history of computing. However there are some significant areas of crossover between the two areas. Tom From: sighfis-l-bounces(a)asis.org [mailto:sighfis-l-bounces@asis.org] On Behalf Of WILLIAMS, ROBERT Sent: Friday, January 27, 2012 12:18 PM To: asis-l; sighfis-l; 'jesse(a)listserv.utk.edu' Subject: [Sighfis-l] Revised CFP: History Pre-Conference Pre-Conference on the History of ASIST and Information Science and Technology Worldwide Call for Papers (Revised 1/27/2012) The 75th Anniversary Task Force of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIST) announces a call for papers for the 2012 Pre-Conference on the history of ASIST and the history of information science and technology worldwide. The Pre-Conference will be held immediately prior to the 2012 Annual Meeting of ASIST, Oct. 26-31, 2012, in Baltimore, Maryland. This conference will explore the 75 year history of ASIST and the longer history of information science and technology worldwide. Abstracts of papers (maximum 1,000 words) not previously published or submitted elsewhere should be submitted by March 1, 2012 and authors of tentatively accepted papers will be promptly notified. Full acceptance of papers will be based on receipt of the complete paper, which should be received no later than June 1, 2012. Alternative presentations, such as videos, posters, exhibits, and demonstration of historical information technologies, are also encouraged. All submissions will be refereed by a panel of experts and all accepted papers will be published as a Web-based publication prior to the conference. Submissions by students and authors outside the U.S. are particularly encouraged. Specific topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: --The development of the foundational ideas and theories of information science and its earlier name, documentation. --What forces contributed to shaping the research agenda and scope of the field of information science worldwide over the past 75 years and how will they evolve over the next 75 years. --The major researchers and developers of the ideas, practices, and theories in information science and closely related fields of study. --The evolution of the multifaceted and multiple-named field referred to as information science with a focus on what the past says about the future of information science research and development. --Treatment of the origin and evolution of information science ideas and practices specific to an individual country. --The historical contexts of major technological innovations and the impacts they have had on societies, organizations, governments, or individuals worldwide. --The development of ASIST (and its predecessors, the American Documentation Institute, the American Society for Information Science) as a professional organization and scholarly society in context with its times, relationships with competing or affiliated organizations, major contributions and influences on the study of information science worldwide, forces shaping the research agenda and scope of the field, roles and contributions of specific individuals or groups within and outside of ASIST, and related issues. --The role of government (nationally or internationally) in influencing the development of information science and technology, with particular attention to the support of research and development of information policies. -- The development of information science education and its relationships with other fields of study, such as Library Science, Informatics, Archival Science, Museum Studies, and related specializations (such as information ethics, information architecture, geographic information systems or medical informatics). For more information and questions about this call for papers contact Robert V. Williams at bobwill(a)sc.edu or call 803-777-2324. Submit abstract (maximum of 1,000 words) electronically to the following site, completing the required contact information: http://www.softconf.com/asist2/Hist_Pre_Con/

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New book: Turing's Cathedral (March 6)
by Dag Spicer 01 Feb '12

01 Feb '12

New book coming out: Turing's Cathedral by George Dyson. I have read an advance copy and can *highly* recommend this book to SIGCIS members. It focuses on JVN and the IAS work, in particular the applications that were run (which seems a welcome insight given that most history seems to focus on hardware). Read more: http://www.amazon.com/Turings-Cathedral-Origins-Digital-Universe/dp/0375422… (to br released March 6). Also, CHM will be hosting Dyson for a conversation about Turing's Cathedral on March 7, at the Museum's Hahn Auditorium. Read more:http://www.computerhistory.org/events/#turings-cathedral-author-george… The event will be videotaped and I will send out a link to the recording as soon as it becomes available. Warm regards, Dag -- Dag Spicer | Senior Curator | Computer History Museum Editorial Board | Annals of the History of Computing 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd. | Mountain View CA 94043 Tel: +1 650 810 1035 | Fax: +1 650 810 1055 Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing Visit in person or online! http://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/ Twitter: @ComputerHistory FB: facebook.com/computerhistory

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