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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

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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/

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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

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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

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Slightly off-topic: question about writing books....
by Evan Koblentz 26 Apr '09

26 Apr '09

I have a question about how to write history. I hope it's not inappropriate or too elementary to ask here. The vast majority of my writing is hard news and feature articles for technology trade magazines using AP style. So it's very difficult for me to break the habit of writing "he said" (or similar) after most sentences. But as I write the manuscript for my first computer history book, I'm encountering situations where that is clearly not the best approach, because it interrupts the flow of the story. How do those of you who write computer history books handle the attribution when telling a never-before-told story? Put another way, what are good ways to footnote a whole paragraph or section without littering the page? The manuscript is full of what I can't help calling "scoops" because the journalistic approach is all I know how to do, so I feel it's necessary to cite the source of everything before readers question why they haven't heard these stories before. Quite frankly, it's important to me that what I publish is considered credible by SIGCIS members! :) Thanks in advance -- - Evan

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Martin Weik?
by Evan Koblentz 21 Apr '09

21 Apr '09

I recently read some of Martin Weik's reports on early computing in the military. Is it possible to reach him? I've been unsuccessful so far in my quest to learn the details of ENIAC's move from Penn to Aberdeen, and have exhausted most resources. (Although I have not yet visited the NARA archives at College Park, Md. where there may be Project PX / ENIAC documents.) I suspect that Weik, if accessible, can answer some of my questions.

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Contemporary history on the Web today
by Bernardo Batiz-Lazo 18 Apr '09

18 Apr '09

Might be of interest - Bernardo (University of Leicester) The University of Luxembourg (Master's in Contemporary European History) and the Virtual Resource Centre for Knowledge about Europe (CVCE) are organising a Symposium to be held in October 2009, whose theme will be 'Contemporary history in the digital age'. The use of the computer and Internet in the methods, techniques and work of historians is coming under ever-wider examination. However, contemporary history as a subject has remained relatively detached from the use of digital applications for academic purposes — excepting word processing and electronic mail — and from those methodological studies linked to it. Nonetheless, information and communication technologies can offer a number of possibilities to contemporary history studies in terms of publication, the collection of primary and secondary sources, networking, data visualisation, etc., not to forget that the Web is itself becoming an archive. The application of digital technology to the study of contemporary history is therefore destined to increase, and our discipline certain to change drastically with it. This Symposium will focus on a simple question, but one offering complex answers: 'Will the Web provide us with a better understanding of history?' The Symposium will bring together contributions and workshop activities in three areas: 1. Contemporary history on the Web today: resources and tools; 2. Contemporary history on the Web today: methods and writing; 3. Contemporary history on the Web tomorrow: 'what will be the future digital environment for researchers in contemporary history?' Download the call for contributions. Deadline for application: 30 May 2009. Website: http://symposium.cvce.lu

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ATM research feature
by Bernardo Batiz-Lazo 17 Apr '09

17 Apr '09

Dear friends A recent article in our in-house magazine http://www2.le.ac.uk/ebulletin/features/2000-2009/2009/04/nparticle.2009-04… Kind regards, Bernardo Senior Lecturer in Business and Accounting History School of Management University of Leicester Tel: 0116 252 5647 Email: b.batiz-lazo(a)le.ac.uk Times Higher Education University of the Year 2008/09

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Reminder - SIGCIS list has a DIGEST option.
by Thomas Haigh 10 Apr '09

10 Apr '09

Hello everyone, We now have more than two hundred people on the list, not all of whom have history of computing as their primary interest. So if you like to stay in the loop but don't want to have your e-mail box filled with too much SIGCIS material you might consider the Digest subscription mode. This will consolidate all list messages from a day into a single email for you to read when convenient. (The downside: you have to look inside the message to see the subject headings). While the list is generally pretty quiet, we do sometimes have flurries of email when discussion breaks out. (Just a reminder -- anyone on this list is able to post directly by sending a message from the address at which they receive SIGCIS messages to members(a)sigcis.org. For the acceptable use policy see http://www.sigcis.org/?q=node/14) To set digest mode, go to http://sigcis.org/mailman/listinfo/members and scroll down to the "Members Subscribers" section at the bottom of the page. Enter your email address in bottom field and click the adjacent "Unsubscribe or edit options" button. The system will then prompt you for the password you were provided when you subscribed (or when we shifted hosting to sigcis.org) That e-mail was titled "Welcome to the 'Members' mailing list." If you forgot or cannot find your password, click the "Remind" button at the bottom of the same login page. You will promptly receive your password via e-mail. After logging in, you will be able to change your subscriber options. To enable digest mode, scroll down to "Set Digest Mode" and set it to "On." Then scroll down further to the bottom of the page and click "Submit My Changes." Also don't forget that that you can catch up with the list archives at http://sigcis.org/pipermail/members/. It's great to see traffic on the list, but I wouldn't want anyone to be scared away. Tom

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Fwd: The Future is Prologue ICA Pre-con
by Fred Turner 03 Apr '09

03 Apr '09

Hi All, The ICA is hosting another preconference this year that seems to be up our collective alley. It's "New Media, New Histories," with the program below. Check it out. -- Fred Turner > > See below for details regarding a pre-conference that will be part > of the offerings at the annual ICA conference in Chicago this May. > Entitled "The Future is Prologue: New Media, New Histories?," this > preconference brings together scholars who are interested in > considering new media in terms of history, and vice versa. There is > still room for those who wish to attend this pre-conference, and we > welcome all interested parties. > > Registration for the ICA conference and this pre-con can be found > here: > http://www.icahdq.org > [the pre-conference is called PC3 in the registration system] > > And let's hear it for my co-planners, Nick Jankowski and Steve Jones. > > Thanks, > Dave Park > > > The Future is Prologue: > New Media, New Histories? > > An ICA Pre-Conference Organized by: New Media & Society, The > University of Illinois at Chicago, And The Communication History > Interest Group of the ICA > > Chicago, 21 May 2009 > University of Illinois at Chicago > Lecture Center C1 > > Schedule > > 8:00: Bus pickup at Marriott Hotel. Buses depart at 8:10 a.m. for > UIC > > 8:30 a.m.-9:00 a.m.: Opening remarks > > 9:00 a.m.-10:15 a.m.: Roundtable 1: Storage and New Media: Beyond > the Container Metaphor > The idea of storage operates as one of a number of > helpful-though also constraining-visions of how information > operates. New media connect the controversies connected to this > idea of storage to long-standing disputes concerning the social role > of information. How do media connect with different modes of > storage? And how do issues relating to storage in turn connect with > historiographical concerns? These will be the animating ideas of > this roundtable. > Devon Powers, "What Was Popular? New Media, History, and the > Problem of > the Music Charts" > Sabryna Cornish, "Correcting History: The Perils of New > Media Correction in a > Digital Age" > Adriana de Souza e Silva and Daniel M. Sutko, "Mobile > Locative Interfaces as > Potentiality: Actualizing Information in Space and > Space as Information" > Megan Sapnar, "From Old to New and Back Again: Broadcast > Histories, > Software Studies, and the Work of Web Historiography" > Deborah Leiter, "Hidden in Plain Sight?: The Exigence of > (Electronic) Visibility > for Print Materials" > Erik Glyttov, "Mediated Realities: Virtual Worlds as New > Media and the > Preservation of Digital Ancestry" > > 10:15 a.m.-10:45 a.m.: Coffee Break > > 10:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m.: Roundtable 2: The Theoretical in the > Historical: De-Centering New Media History > Media historians are often trained to avoid tendencies > like technological determinism and Whig history. Related to these > tendencies is the practice of reifying technologies and media, > setting them aside as if they were naturally separate 'things'. > This roundtable pulls together papers that exemplify the practice of > de-centering new and old media through grounded understandings of > social praxis, understood through varying theoretical lenses. > D. Travers Scott, "The Utility of Sound Studies' Theory and > Method for Histories > of New Media and Communication Technologies" > Peter D. Schaefer, "Reflections on the Sliding Signification > of 'Interface'" > Klaus Bruhn Jensen & Rasmus Helles, "The Internet as a > Cultural Forum: > Implications for Research" > Josh Lauer, "Surveillance History and the History of New > Media" > Benjamin Peters, "Media We Do Not Yet Know How to Talk > About: History as > New Media" > Lance Porter, "A Multi-Method Examination of the Move from > Print to New > Media of Online Sports Reporters and Fans" > Dawn Shepard, "The Closet and the House-Tops: Communication > Technologies and the Paradox of Privacy" > > 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m.: Lunch > > 1:00 p.m.-2:15 p.m.: Roundtable 3: Doing History: New Media > Historiography, and the History of History > Historiography-understood as the methods of history and > as the history of history-is of particular importance to those who > take an historical approach to new media. How do new media-as > storage tools and as analytic devices-intersect with the methods we > use to do media history? And what methodological adjustments can we > see in new media research? > Jaako Suominen, "Gaming Legacy?: Four Approaches to the > Relation Between > Cultural Heritage and Digital Technology" > Mark Brewin, "A History of the History of Objectivity" > Simon Popple & David E. Morrison, "Opening the Archive: The > BBC, New Media, > and Media History" > Meghan Dougherty, Jamaica Jones, and Steven M. Schneider, > "911@10: > Collaboration across Fields to Challenge Formats for > New Media History" > Michael Dick, "Writing a Prologue for 'Web Science': > Situating an Evolving > Discipline-and the New Media at its Core-Within > Determinist- Constructivist Discourse and Medium > Theory" > Jan Fernback, "Knowledge Capital, ICTs, and the Academic > Community" > > 2:15 p.m.-2:30 p.m.: Break. > > 2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.: Keynote address by speaker TBA > > 3:30 p.m.-3:45 p.m.: Break. > > 3:45 p.m.-5:00 p.m.: Roundtable 4: Historicizing New Media: > Applying Historical Approaches to New Media Practice > The future assumes numerous forms in media practice. The > idea of the future-and the sense of possibility and flexibility that > often comes with it-is of particular importance to new media > practice. The papers collected here address the ideas of emergence > and flexibility as they relate to new media. > > Holly Kruse, "Internet Gambling and the Changing Meanings of > Domestic Space" > Charles van den Heuvel, "Web 2.0 and the Semantic Web in > Research from a > Historical Perspective: The Designs of Paul Otlet > (1868-1944) for Telecommunication and Machine > Readable Documentation to Organize Research and > Society" > Stephanie Schulte, "Blogging into the Future: The Internet > as Unmediated Proxy > of the Self" > Deb Aikat, "Digitally Inspired: Classic Concepts, Texts and > the Pioneers Who > Shaped the Evolution of Computing in 1833-1945" > Carolyn Kane, "Digital Art and Experimental Color Systems at > Bell Laboratories, > 1965-1984: Restoring Interdisciplinary Innovations > and Color Systems to Media History" > Patricia T. Whalen, "The Tipping Point for Newspapers: A > Snapshot of an Industry > in Denial" > > 5:00 p.m.-6:30 p.m.: Closing Reception, featuring guided visit to > the Electronic Visualization Laboratory. > Though space for the EVL tours may be limited, there > will be a chance for groups of approximately 25 attendees to take > this tour sequentially. >

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