Hello SIGCIS members, Another pre-SHOT ritual is the call for donations for our book auction. This is a centerpiece of our annual lunch meeting (37 people registered so far). This started five years ago as a way to get spare copies of history of computing books to good homes while raising money for the SIG in the process. Thanks to the enthusiastic support of our members, and the generosity of MIT Press (I'm told another well-stuffed box of books is on its way for us) we've been able to raise about $800 a year from the auction in recent years. This has been used for some of our graduate student travel awards (total funding this year over $2,000). One way to support the auction is just to bring your books to the lunch meeting. However several members (e.g. Jim Cortada and Paul Ceruzzi) have been kind enough to mail me books even when they weren't able to attend in person or didn't want to carry them there. When I get multiple copies of a single book I sometimes hold back some for the next year, not to flood the market. So, if there are history of computing books gathering dust on your shelf that you might be willing to donate then please let me know. On request I can note down the amount your books raise and acknowledge this as a charitable contribution to SHOT by the donor. Tom