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CFP: Journal of Information Technology Special Issue: Why History Matters
by Thomas Haigh 28 Apr '11

28 Apr '11

This special issue may be of interest. In this context, "information systems" means the use of computers for business administration. (I believe it evolved historically as the "M" was gradually dropped from MIS beginning in the 1970s). The intention behind the special issue seems good, particularly its attention to historiographic issues, and there are some respectable names behind it. I did notice that not one of the twelve people named as senior or associate editors is what you might call a card carrying historian of computing. Getting some work from our community into the issue might be a good way of bridging that divide. One topic I've been thinking of lately is the challenge of trying to study the history of a field from within and possible models for the happy interaction of insider and outsider history. (This is, of course, a perennial topic of conversation at IEEE Annals board meetings). Tom From: sighfis-l-bounces(a)asis.org [mailto:sighfis-l-bounces@asis.org] On Behalf Of Kathryn La Barre Sent: Thursday, April 28, 2011 12:55 PM To: sighfis-l(a)asis.org Subject: [Sighfis-l] CFP: Journal of Information Technology Special Issue: Why History Matters Call for Papers for a Special Issue of Journal of Information Technology Information Systems: Why History Matters Senior Editors: Antony Bryant Alistair Black Frank Land Jaana Porra Any discipline or field of professional practice has a history. A proper understanding of the discipline needs to be based on a widespread awareness of that history. The field of information systems (IS) is no different in this regard. As the IS field matures, it needs to evolve a historical perspective on its own subject matter. Although there has been some significant work within IS studies that relies upon and uses historical data, there is little by way of information historiography to guide further work and future research. This is ironic given that information systems themselves are now the fons et origo of contemporary (richly demonstrated by the recent WIKILEAKS affair) and future archives. In addition, there is significant reliance upon case studies, and other forms of historical narrative, in IS research and general IS literature. So it is essential that those working within IS studies understand the role and nature of archives and other historical sources, both in terms of a resource for research into information history, and as a topic for discussion amongst archivists, historians, and other information and information system researchers and professionals: Also developing an awareness of the processes underlying the development of archives as social artefacts. The interest in producing IS history encompasses many disciplines and varying perspectives on IS. The IS discipline itself is closely related to other disciplines or research domains, such as information studies, information science, library history, organizational studies, business studies, software engineering (including requirements engineering), HCI, AI, CAD/CAM, criminology, social studies, behavioural sciences, economics and communication studies - although all too often these links are ignored or simply forgotten. In so doing, the IS community is missing an opportunity to engage with, and learn from, others with differing perspectives on topics of common interest. Furthermore, this engenders an uneasy feeling that many current IS issues and concerns might be at least partially resolved with a better knowledge and understanding of 'information history' in its broadest sense. The purpose of this special issue is to provide a broad based platform for an IS historical discourse. Thus, we welcome contributions from all fields that are concerned with the IS subject matter. While many aspects and areas of IS studies rely on historical data, evidence and archives, the common goal is to produce a body of IS history. In this spirit, we invite contributions on a variety of topics related to IS history. Such topics may touch upon fundamental philosophical questions such as: What is IS history? At a more practical level, they may include areas such as: * the development of information history as a multidisciplinary research effort * an analysis of historical approaches and methods and what these can provide for the IS researcher * the existence of primary sources for IS history, and associated problems of access and methodology * the nature of the archive * good examples of the use of historiographic approaches to IS studies * previously unpublished histories * the study of the evolution of the IS disciplines * how the boundaries of the discipline were set and defined * the study of the evolution of IS organization, practice and management, including such practices as outsourcing * the study of the evolution of the IS profession * the study of the evolution of the role of information systems and professionals in organizations * the study of the evolution of IS design methodologies * the study of evolution of IS applications * exploring the management of change * the importance of understanding the pre-history of IS as currently defined, including continuities or contrasts with earlier pre-computer phases, technologies and systems * the study of IS innovation and diffusion including: stages of growth models; the study of IS success and failure; use and policies around public and private archives * information archives in the age of Freedom of Information legislation, PR and spin * the use of history as an instrument for understanding the present and planning the future; and the consequent dangers of 'presentism' * the inevitability of the 'double hermeneutic' in unravelling the historical record ASSOCIATE EDITORS Frank Bannister, Trinity College, Dublin Rudy Hirschheim, Distinguished Professor of Information Systems at the EJ Ourso College of Business Administration at Louisiana State University, USA Nathalie Mitev, Department of Information Systems, LSE, UK Neil Pollock, Reader in e-business, University of Edinburgh, UK Neil Ramiller Professor of Management, School of Business Administration, Portland State University Boyd Rayward, Professor Emeritus, University of Illinois, USA Burt Swanson, Professor and Area Chair for Information Systems at the UCLA Anderson School, USA Toni Weller, Visiting Research Fellow in History, Department of Historical and Social Studies, De Montfort University, UK DEADLINES & SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS Information about JIT, including formatting requirements, can be found at http://www.palgrave-journals.com/jit/index.html Questions about the special issue can be directed to Tony Bryant [a.bryant(a)leedsmet.ac.uk] Papers should be submitted to JIT [JITedoffice(a)lse.ac.uk] with the title of the Special Issue in the Subject Line. Timetable: December 31 2011 Articles submitted July 31 2012 Reviews returned to authors October 31 2012 Revised version of articles due December 31 2012 Final papers selected June 2013 Publication of Special Issue -- Kathryn La Barre Assistant Professor Graduate School of Library and Information Science University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

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[Fwd: [EASST-Eurograd] Deadline & submission guidelines for Theorising Development and Technological Change - Special Issue of the Information Systems Journal]
by Petri Paju 28 Apr '11

28 Apr '11

All, just in case (and hoping) someone has anything historical and relevant for this (and ready) to offer for the call below. Petri ** Dear all, This is the final reminder for the Special Issue of the Information Systems Journal on “Theorising Development and Technological Change” *CFP*: http://www.isj-editors.org/?p=300 *Submission deadline:* 2nd of May 2011 *Submission guidelines* Please also note that submissions must be made via Manuscript central (not by email) Manuscripts should not normally exceed 7000 words and should be submitted online at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/isj. Authors will have to select Special Issue Submission as the manuscript type. Author guidelines are available at http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/journals/isj/. All submissions will be peer-reviewed following the double-blind review process of ISJ. We look forward to your submissions Thanks and kind regards, Gianluca Miscione Dr. Gianluca Miscione Assistant Professor in Geo-Information and Organization Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation University of Twente Address: Hengelosestraat 99 7514 AE Enschede The Netherlands email: g.miscione(a)utwente.nl <mailto:g.miscione@utwente.nl> phone: +31 53 48 74 231 http://www.itc.nl/about_itc/resumes/miscione.aspx ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Faculty of Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) University of Twente Chamber of Commerce: 501305360000 E-mail disclaimer The information in this e-mail, including any attachments, is intended for the addressee only. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, distribution or action in relation to the content of this information is strictly prohibited. If you have received this e-mail by mistake, please delete the message and any attachment and inform the sender by return e-mail. ITC accepts no liability for any error or omission in the message content or for damage of any kind that may arise as a result of e-mail transmission. -- Petri Paju, tutkijatohtori, Turun yliopisto -- Ph.D. Researcher, Univ. of Turku http://users.utu.fi/petpaju/ (new article: Computing Close to Iron Curtain: Czechoslovakia and Finland) http://www.ths.fi/bibliography.htm (new) _______________________________________________ EASST's Eurograd mailing list Eurograd(a)lists.easst.net http://lists.easst.net/listinfo.cgi/eurograd-easst.net Report abuses of this list to Eurograd-owner(a)lists.easst.net

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FW: [Sigtis-l] ASIST> SIG-SI: 2010 Social Informatics Best Paper Award
by Thomas Haigh 27 Apr '11

27 Apr '11

See below for a best published paper prize. The place of history within "social informatics" is not entirely clear (the new category was supposed to cover examination of the use and shaping of IT within many disciplines including business schools, sociology, anthropology, computer science, design, etc but in practice has gained traction primarily within former library science schools and even there rather unevenly). Still, if you have published something about the use of IT within some kind of STS framework it be worth nominating it. Particularly if you used the words "social informatics" at any point. Tom -----Original Message----- From: sigtis-l-bounces(a)asis.org [mailto:sigtis-l-bounces@asis.org] On Behalf Of Howard Rosenbaum Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2011 11:06 AM To: sigtis-l(a)asis.org Subject: [Sigtis-l] ASIST> SIG-SI: 2010 Social Informatics Best Paper Award Call for nominations for the Social Informatics Best Paper Award The Special Interest Group for Social Informatics (SIG-SI) is seeking nominations for an award for the best paper published in a peer reviewed journal on a topic informed by social informatics during the 2010 calendar year. The author or authors will present their paper and receive a $1,000 cash award at the 2011 Annual Meeting of the American Society for Information Science and Technology in New Orleans in October, 2011. Nominations letters should be sent to Howard Rosenbaum (hrosenba(a)indiana.edu) or Pnina Shachaf (shachaf(a)indiana.edu) by June 30, 2011 and must include a full citation, a brief explanation for the nomination, and a copy of the article. Self nominations are acceptable. Winners will be notified by July 31, 2011. ASIS&T Special Interest Group for Social Informatics _______________________________________________ Sigtis-l mailing list Sigtis-l(a)asis.org http://mail.asis.org/mailman/listinfo/sigtis-l

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Paul Allen Interview at CHM
by Dag Spicer 27 Apr '11

27 Apr '11

Dear friends, Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen gave a long interview and book signing at the Computer History Museum on Monday night. You can see the interview at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ho7cBrFlVqY&feature=youtu.be Best wishes, Dag

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Volume 4 of Knuth!
by Ceruzzi, Paul 22 Apr '11

22 Apr '11

Amazon has listed volume "4A" of Knuth. I won't believe it until I get my hands on it. Volume Three (Sorting and Searching), was published in 1973. Does this strike anyone else besides me as strange? Knuth had a huge influence the history of computing--besides his contribution to computing. I use the past tense because I haven't seen Volume 4 yet. I wrote a bit more on this in the IT History blog (ithistory.org/blog) Paul E. Ceruzzi Chair, Division of Space History National Air & Space Museum MRC 311; PO Box 37012 Washington, DC 20013-7012 202-633-2414 <http://www.nasm.si.edu/staffDetail.cfm?staffID=24>

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DYSEAC and Fort Monmouth question
by Evan Koblentz 17 Apr '11

17 Apr '11

Hi all, In the past few years I have become very familiar with DYSEAC, which was a "portable" computer (two 40-foot trailers!) made by the U.S. National Bureau of Standards starting in 1953. It was made in D.C. and transported for testing to the White Sands (New Mexico) Signal Agency. Alas, it never got beyond the testing stage, and so the Army didn't have a working portable computer until MOBIDIC three years later. Tonight I was thumbing through the third edition (1963) of Ned Chapin's "An Introduction to Automatic Computers". Page 190 contains a chart of computer installations, and it cites DYSEAC as being located at Fort Monmouth (New Jersey). I believe that's a mistake, and it probably happened because the White Sands Signal Agency reported to the Signal Corps Electronics Laboratory headquarters, which was at Fort Monmouth. Now I'm wondering: does anyone have information that DYSEAC itself was somehow affiliated with or ever located at, Fort Monmouth? Related question: Earlier today, I met an 88-year-old engineer named Oliver Reynolds who said that after World War II, he built a tube computer while stationed at Camp Evans (the Fort Monmouth outpost that's now my computer museum). He didn't recall details but he promised to dig out his notes and be in touch next week. This was news to me -- I never heard of a tube computer being built here -- there isn't any reference in Chapin's chart nor from any other source I have seen. The only machine Chapin lists at Monmouth (other than DYSEAC, which I believe is a mistake) is Monrobot 1 from 1953, and that's not a possibility for Mr. Reynolds because it was obviously done by the Monroe Calculator Co. I am out of ideas, at least until next Wednesday when I meet with Mr. Reynolds again for an interview. He says he has a color negative of him next to the computer. We shall see ..... Camp Evans * did * have a role in ENIAC (as I've previously explained on this list); in 1947 was a customer of the Moore School's differential analyzer; and in 1956 moved on to MOBIDIC. So it is certainly possible that this man is correct. It's also possible the computer was only a prototype or that it was classified. Both circumstances would explain its non-existence in literature. I will also check in the Monmouth archives.

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Second cfp -- International conference on the History and Philosophy of Computing, 7-10 Nov., 2011
by Liesbeth De Mol 15 Apr '11

15 Apr '11

Dear all, I hope this second CfP for the International conference on the history and philosophy of computing will interest some of you. Note that the submission deadline is May 15, 2011, very best regards, Liesbeth. ------------------APOLOGIES FOR MULTIPLE POSTINGS------------------- SECOND CALL FOR PAPERS International Conference on the History and Philosophy of Computing 7―10 November 2011 Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium http://www.computing-conference.ugent.be Celebrating the 75th anniversary of the famous 1936 Papers by A. Church, E.L. Post and A.M. Turing. From 7-10 November 2011 the Centre for Logic and Philosophy of Science, Ghent University organizes an International Conference on the History and Philosophy of computing. The number of researchers working in fields related to computing is growing rapidly in many different directions. As Mahoney once stated, “the computer is not one thing but many different things, and the same holds true of computing”. As a consequence, the computing sciences collect the most diverse complex of experts: philosophers, logicians, historians, mathematicians, computer scientists, programmers, engineers. The number of involved subjects grows accordingly: from the foundational issues to their applications; from the philosophical questions to problems of realizability and design of specifications; from the theoretical studies of computational barriers to the relevance of machines for educational purposes. Given the significance of computing for modern society, the relevance of its history and philosophy can hardly be overestimated. The aim of this conference is to bring together these two streams: we are strongly convinced that an interplay between researchers with an interest in the history and philosophy of computing can crucially add to the maturity of the field. Topics of the conference include but are not restricted to: • The history of computing • Philosophical, foundational and practical issues of computability in logic, mathematics and computer science • Computation in the sciences For a more detailed list of possible topics see http://www.computing-conference.ugent.be/cfp SUBMISSION DETAILS: We cordially invite researchers working in a field relevant to the main topics of the conference to submit a short abstract of approximately 200 words and an extended abstract of at most a 1000 words (references included) to https://www.easychair.org/account/signin.cgi?conf=hapoc11 Abstracts must be written in English. Please note that the format of uploaded files must be .pdf or .doc. In order to access the submission page, the creation of an EasyChair account will be required. Please notice that what is called “abstract” in the EasyChair “Title, Abstract and Other Information” section corresponds to the short abstract of this call, and what is called “paper” in the EasyChair “Upload Paper” section corresponds to the extended abstract of this call. IMPORTANT DATES: Submission deadline: May 15, 2011 Notification of acceptance: July 20, 2011 Deadline for Registration: 23 October, 2011 INVITED SPEAKERS: Bill Aspray (University of Texas) Martin Davis (New York University, UC Berkeley) Fairouz Kamareddine (Heriot-Watt University Edinburgh) Sybille Krämer (Freie Universität Berlin) Giovanni Sambin (Universita' di Padova) Raymond Turner (University of Essex) Stephen Wolfram (Wolfram Research) CONFERENCE CHAIRS: Liesbeth De Mol and Giuseppe Primiero  ORGANIZING COMMITTEE: Liesbeth De Mol, Giuseppe Primiero, Dagmar Provijn, Jean-Paul van Bendegem PROGRAMME COMMITTEE:  G. Alberts (Amsterdam); S. Artemov (New York); M. Campbell-Kelly (Warwick); L. Corry (Tel Aviv) M. Denecker (Leuven); A. Eden (Essex); L. Floridi (Oxford& Hertfordshire); R. Kahle (Lisbon); B. Loewe (Amsterdam); J. Meheus (Ghent); E. Myin (Antwerp); S. Negri (Helsinki) V. de Paiva (Palo Alto); S. Smets (Groningen); G. Sundholm (Leiden); C. Toffalori (Camerino); J.-.P. van Bendegem (Brussels); M. van Dyck (Ghent); B. van Kerkhove (Brussels& Hasselt); E. Weber (Ghent) REGISTRATION The registration to the conference will soon be opened at the following webpage: http://www.computing-conference.ugent.be/registration Note that it is required for all attendees to register. It has been our policy to keep registration fees as low as possible. IACAP members also have a 10% discount on the fee. The following fees apply: Regular fee: 150 EUR IACAP members: 135 EUR Graduate Students: 100 EUR This includes coffee breaks, the conference dinner and the book of abstracts. Accompanying persons: 50 EUR (dinner only). GRANTS The International Association for Computing and Philosophy http://ia-cap.org/ will fund a $500 travel grant for an IACAP graduate student to attend. IACAP graduate students who would like to apply for this grant need to send a copy of their submission to Tony Beavers (executivedirector(a)ia-cap.org) executive director of IACAP. The Association also offers a 10% discount on the conference fee for IACAP members.   Student members of the Association for Symbolic Logic http://www.aslonline.org/index.htm also may apply for ASL travel support. Applications have to be addressed directly to the ASL. For more information and application details on ASL student travel awards see http://www.aslonline.org/studenttravelawards.html Note that the deadline for application is 7, 2011.  SPECIAL ISSUES A selection of papers will be published as a special issue of the journal Philosophy& Technology (Springer) http://www.springer.com/philosophy/epistemology+and+philosophy+of +science/journal/13347 We also intend to publish a selection of papers in a special issue of History and Philosophy of Logic (Taylor& Francis) http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/authors/thplauth.asp More details will follow later. CONTACT AND INFORMATION: For further information please contact us at:  computing.conference(a)ugent.be or have a look at our website: http://www.computing-conference.ugent.be

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From Dag Spicer: News from the Computer History Museum
by Thomas Haigh 11 Apr '11

11 Apr '11

[Dag's been hit by the intermittent email/DNS glitch whereby a mailserver refuses to relay to the list. Tom.] Dear SIGCIS Friends, Just a couple of updates: 1. Our annual Museum Fellow Awards take place on April 30 in Mountain View, Calif. This year our inductees are: Bill Joy, For his work on the BSD Unix system and co-founding of Sun Microsystems. Whit Diffie, Ralph Merkle, Martin Hellman, for the invention of public-key cryptography. More details here: http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/The-Computer-History-Museum-Announce s-Its-2011-Fellow-Award-Honorees-1412458.htm 2. Revolution is now online! Be sure to check out the online version of our new 25,000 sq ft exhibition, Revolution: http://www.computerhistory.org/revolution I am interested in feedback from SIGCIS members on the site so please be in touch. 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 NOW OPEN!! Learn more: http://www.youtube.com/user/ComputerHistory The original message was received at Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:16:47 -0700 from ritchie.hq.computerhistory.org [192.168.98.19] ----- The following addresses had permanent fatal errors ----- <members(a)sigcis.org> (reason: 550 #5.1.0 Address rejected members(a)sigcis.org) ----- Transcript of session follows ----- ... while talking to charlemagne.cddc.vt.edu.: >>> DATA <<< 450 4.7.1 <members(a)sigcis.org>: Recipient address rejected: Service is unavailable <members(a)sigcis.org>... Deferred: 450 4.7.1 <members(a)sigcis.org>: Recipient address rejected: Service is unavailable <<< 554 5.5.1 Error: no valid recipients ... while talking to mailstore1.secureserver.net.: >>> RCPT To:<members(a)sigcis.org> <<< 550 #5.1.0 Address rejected members(a)sigcis.org 550 5.1.1 <members(a)sigcis.org>... User unknown >>> DATA <<< 503 #5.5.1 RCPT first _____ Reporting-MTA: dns; smtp.computerhistory.org Received-From-MTA: DNS; ritchie.hq.computerhistory.org Arrival-Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:16:47 -0700 Final-Recipient: RFC822; members(a)sigcis.org Action: failed Status: 5.1.1 Remote-MTA: DNS; mailstore1.secureserver.net Diagnostic-Code: SMTP; 550 #5.1.0 Address rejected members(a)sigcis.org Last-Attempt-Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:16:49 -0700 _____ Received: from ritchie.hq.computerhistory.org (ritchie.hq.computerhistory.org [192.168.98.19]) by smtp.computerhistory.org (Sentrion-MTA-4.1.0/Sentrion-MTA-4.1.0) with ESMTP id p3BFGj25006208 for <members(a)sigcis.org>; Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:16:47 -0700 Received: from 192.168.99.10 ([192.168.99.10]) by ritchie.hq.computerhistory.org ([192.168.98.19]) with Microsoft Exchange Server HTTP-DAV ; Mon, 11 Apr 2011 15:16:45 +0000 User-Agent: Microsoft-Entourage/11.4.0.080122 Date: Mon, 11 Apr 2011 08:16:44 -0700 Subject: News from the Computer History Museum From: Dag Spicer <spicer(a)computerhistory.org> To: <members(a)sigcis.org> Message-ID: <C9C8696C.3F3E4%spicer(a)computerhistory.org> Thread-Topic: News from the Computer History Museum Thread-Index: Acv4W3d0tfGC8GROEeCkywAcs8FqAQ== Mime-version: 1.0 Content-type: multipart/alternative; boundary="B_3385354604_17097094" X-Spam-Score: 0.00% X-Spam-Score: 0% X-Spam-Analysis: Skipped. Message Direction = outbound X-Spam-Reason: Skipped. Message Direction = outbound

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Edwin Nixon
by Bernardo Batiz-Lazo 04 Apr '11

04 Apr '11

If anyone came across this person who became the head of IBM UK in the 1970s until circa 1985 (joined in 1957), I would much appreciate it. I am trying to write a small piece on him and are running on a shoe string in terms of information. Many thanks Bernardo Bangor University

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ACM History Fellowship ---> deadline 15 April
by Thomas J. Misa 30 Mar '11

30 Mar '11

Hi all, Gentle reminder that the /deadline/ for proposals to ACM is two week's away -- 15 April. Information, past winners/projects, --- how to submit a proposal -- is here: http://history.acm.org/content.php?do=fellowship Best, Tom Misa

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