Charles Babbage Institute News and Information tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2008:/horow021/cbi//6746 2008-09-04T14:47:40Z CBI Web Site Movable Type 3.33.uthink Minnesota's Hidden Computing History tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2008:/horow021/cbi//6746.140483 2008-09-04T14:44:06Z 2008-09-04T14:47:40Z CBI will be starting a new, exciting evening lecture series this semester, on Minnesota's hidden computing history. They will generally be held every month on a Wednesday from 7-8 pm, in Andersen Library, room 120. The first one will be... Stephanie Horowitz CBI will be starting a new, exciting evening lecture series this semester, on Minnesota's hidden computing history. They will generally be held every month on a Wednesday from 7-8 pm, in Andersen Library, room 120. The first one will be Wednesday, September 17 (two weeks from yesterday). Anyone is welcome to attend!

Here are some more details about the first lecture:

"Minnesota's Hidden History in Computing: Why Not Silicon Valley?"
September 17th, 7-8 pm
Andersen Library 120 (West Bank)

Charles Babbage Institute
University of Minnesota
Minneapolis MN 55455

What made California's Silicon Valley into a world-famous center for computing, and could Minnesota have claimed this title? This informal evening talk, the first in a year-long series of public lectures given by staff at the Charles Babbage Institute, surveys the hidden history of computing in the Twin Cities and across the state. Minnesota's pioneering computer companies -- the Engineering Research Associates, Sperry-Univac, Control Data, Honeywell, Unisys, IBM-Rochester and others -- were second to none in innovative technology, people, and markets. The University made important advances in the early World Wide Web. This is a history that certainly needs to be better known.

Each of the monthly lectures, on Wednesday evenings, will explore a specific topic or company. We invite members of the public and university community to attend and learn more about Minnesota's "hidden history" in computing.

For more information:
www.cbi.umn.edu or 612-624-5050

]]> Week Away in San Francisco tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2008:/horow021/cbi//6746.139465 2008-08-25T21:30:46Z 2008-08-25T21:34:52Z For the rest of this week, Arvid and I will be on the West Coast at the annual Society of American Archivists conference, so we will likely not be able to respond to your questions until next week. Remember, after... Stephanie Horowitz For the rest of this week, Arvid and I will be on the West Coast at the annual Society of American Archivists conference, so we will likely not be able to respond to your questions until next week.

Remember, after Labor Day, Andersen Library will be open from 9-1 on Saturdays, with limited access for researchers.

]]> Cortada Talk tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2008:/horow021/cbi//6746.139273 2008-08-22T18:13:07Z 2008-08-22T18:15:32Z If you are in the Champaign-Urbana (or is it Urbana-Champaign?) area, you might be interested in the following talk by Jim Cortada, whose papers we have here at CBI and who has been instrumental in the development of the Institute.... Stephanie Horowitz If you are in the Champaign-Urbana (or is it Urbana-Champaign?) area, you might be interested in the following talk by Jim Cortada, whose papers we have here at CBI and who has been instrumental in the development of the Institute.

James Cortada: “How Demand-Side Computing Shaped the History of Digitization�

Monday, September 8, 2008

4:00-5:30 pm

LISB 126

Lecture Abstract: Normally the history of computing is told from the perspective of the engineers, firms, and the industries that invented, manufactured, and sold computers. It is also told largely as a US centric story. However, we are increasingly realizing that users were not passive players in this process; rather they used computers when it made sense to them and worked with vendors to develop what they needed. They also developed patterns of adoption that spread around the world. This talk will discuss how whole industries embraced computing and, in the process, changed how they performed their daily work.

Speaker Biography: Dr. James W. Cortada received his Ph.D. in Modern European History from Florida State University, and is the author of two dozen books on the history and management of information technology. His most recent project has been the 3-volume The Digital Hand, which surveys the use of computing in 36 industries over the past six decades. He leads research teams at the IBM Institute for Business Value that monitor use of computing around the world.

]]> SIGPLAN Notices Available tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2008:/horow021/cbi//6746.139057 2008-08-20T16:25:56Z 2008-08-20T16:30:44Z I am pleased to report that a large chunk of ACM's SIGPLAN Notices publication is now cataloged and available for research here at CBI. SIGPLAN Notices is the monthly publication of ACM's special interest group on programming languages. It should... Stephanie Horowitz I am pleased to report that a large chunk of ACM's SIGPLAN Notices publication is now cataloged and available for research here at CBI. SIGPLAN Notices is the monthly publication of ACM's special interest group on programming languages. It should complement well the ACM Records that we'll be receiving and processing this fall.

We have some other ACM publications going through cataloging right now, and I will keep you updated on their further availability.

]]> RENCI Lecture - Women ENIAC Programmers tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2008:/horow021/cbi//6746.138960 2008-08-19T19:56:57Z 2008-08-19T20:02:18Z Pioneering female computer scientists to be topic of next RENCI Distinguished Lecture This talk at Duke University on September 25 will be about the women ENIAC programmers, including Betty Holberton, whose papers we have here at CBI. I look forward... Stephanie Horowitz Pioneering female computer scientists to be topic of next RENCI Distinguished Lecture

This talk at Duke University on September 25 will be about the women ENIAC programmers, including Betty Holberton, whose papers we have here at CBI. I look forward to hearing about it - please leave a comment if you attend!

]]> Olympics Exhibit tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2008:/horow021/cbi//6746.138078 2008-08-08T18:21:36Z 2008-08-08T18:24:10Z Slight deviation from the history of computing, but I just wanted to recommend to all of you in the Cities the new Andersen Library exhibit. It's entitled Reaching for Gold: The YMCA and the Olympic Movement in China from 1895... Stephanie Horowitz Slight deviation from the history of computing, but I just wanted to recommend to all of you in the Cities the new Andersen Library exhibit. It's entitled Reaching for Gold: The YMCA and the Olympic Movement in China from 1895 to 1920, put on by the Kautz Family YMCA Archives. They've also got a live feed from the Beijing Olympics, so stop on by.

]]> Andersen Library Hours Change tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2008:/horow021/cbi//6746.137132 2008-07-28T21:25:18Z 2008-07-28T21:29:06Z Starting this September, the Andersen Library extended hours will be changing to (it is hoped) support more researchers. We will no longer be open late on Thursday nights. Instead, we will have Saturday hours, from 9:00 to 1:00 every week... Stephanie Horowitz Starting this September, the Andersen Library extended hours will be changing to (it is hoped) support more researchers. We will no longer be open late on Thursday nights. Instead, we will have Saturday hours, from 9:00 to 1:00 every week while school is in session (excluding holidays).

While this new schedule should support more walk-in researchers, our ability to page materials will still be somewhat limited on Saturdays. So, it will still be best to make an appointment with a staff member who works with your collection.

To sum up, our new hours starting after Labor Day will be 8:30 to 4:30 Monday-Friday and 9:00-1:00 Saturday.

]]> Public Historian tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2008:/horow021/cbi//6746.136590 2008-07-21T20:31:32Z 2008-07-21T20:34:18Z Please check out the Public Historian, a really interesting blog written by a PhD student in the history of sci/tech/med program here. Full disclosure - her latest post is full of some nice things to say about CBI.... Stephanie Horowitz Please check out the Public Historian, a really interesting blog written by a PhD student in the history of sci/tech/med program here. Full disclosure - her latest post is full of some nice things to say about CBI.

]]> Computer History Museum Collections tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2008:/horow021/cbi//6746.136343 2008-07-18T18:56:01Z 2008-07-18T18:58:34Z The Computer History Museum has announced the inauguration of a new online search system for research in their collections and artifacts: http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/search/.... Stephanie Horowitz The Computer History Museum has announced the inauguration of a new online search system for research in their collections and artifacts: http://www.computerhistory.org/collections/search/.

]]> Day in the Life, Part II tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2008:/horow021/cbi//6746.134227 2008-07-07T20:34:11Z 2008-07-07T20:40:53Z Herein the second installment of that riveting series, A Day in the Life of an Archivist. Today I spent some time working on creating what we in the biz call "vertical files" (any archivists out there know the origin of... Stephanie Horowitz Herein the second installment of that riveting series, A Day in the Life of an Archivist. Today I spent some time working on creating what we in the biz call "vertical files" (any archivists out there know the origin of this term?). Basically, a vertical files are reference files - materials that aren't actually archival collections, but can still be useful to researchers. Vertical files might contain photocopied newspaper articles, pamphlets, or other reference material on a certain topic. I am lucky because former CBI employees kept extensive files on computing companies, individuals, and other subject areas. None of the files have, up till now, been officially accessible to researchers, but they could be a useful starting place for many research topics and so I've been moving things around, getting our new vertical files ready to be available.

]]> RBMS Report tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2008:/horow021/cbi//6746.133582 2008-06-30T20:03:51Z 2008-06-30T20:21:12Z I got back today from last week's RBMS (Rare Books and Manuscripts Section) preconference, and, though I've been busy catching up with things here in the office, I thought I'd take a few minutes to report on RBMS and particularly... Stephanie Horowitz I got back today from last week's RBMS (Rare Books and Manuscripts Section) preconference, and, though I've been busy catching up with things here in the office, I thought I'd take a few minutes to report on RBMS and particularly on the Blog Boot Camp seminar panel that I was a part of. We heard some pretty interesting and thought-provoking plenary talks about digitization of archives and special collections materials, which was the theme of the preconference. I particularly enjoyed hearing Rich Szary (from my alma mater) and Jackie Dooley, both of whom explained why we should "learn from the archivists" in terms of minimal processing and why we should be digitizing "with abandon," a great phrase.

The Blog Boot Camp seminar itself was a smashing success, if I do say so myself. We had an overflow crowd (about 30 people had to be turned away, unfortunately) and got a great discussion going. Over the following couple of days, a number of archivists and special collections librarians came up to me to tell me how inspiring the seminar was and how they plan to start blogs for their own institutions. Jackie Dooley, in the final plenary, mentioned how happy she was to see a blogging seminar here at RBMS. The whole thing was a great experience (and inspiring for me, too).

]]> Closed next week tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2008:/horow021/cbi//6746.131957 2008-06-20T18:54:01Z 2008-06-20T18:56:13Z Next Tuesday through Friday (June 24-27), CBI will be closed to researchers, as both Arvid and I will be in Los Angeles at the RBMS preconference. I will be checking email periodically, so if you have any questions, you can... Stephanie Horowitz Next Tuesday through Friday (June 24-27), CBI will be closed to researchers, as both Arvid and I will be in Los Angeles at the RBMS preconference. I will be checking email periodically, so if you have any questions, you can get in touch that way.

]]> Blog Boot Camp tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2008:/horow021/cbi//6746.131956 2008-06-20T18:45:52Z 2008-06-20T18:53:26Z Next Thursday (June 26), I will be on a seminar panel at the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section preconference, talking about this blog. The seminar is entitled "Blog Boot Camp: A Primer for Special Collections Staff." The chair of the... Stephanie Horowitz Next Thursday (June 26), I will be on a seminar panel at the Rare Books and Manuscripts Section preconference, talking about this blog. The seminar is entitled "Blog Boot Camp: A Primer for Special Collections Staff." The chair of the seminar set up a blog about our panel, located here.

Leave a comment if you have any more questions. It should be a great experience. I'll be sure to post about it when I return from Los Angeles.

]]> CBI in the News! tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2008:/horow021/cbi//6746.131790 2008-06-18T20:19:35Z 2008-06-18T20:25:31Z CBI is in the news! One of the attendees at our History | Gender | Computing conference in May wrote this story, which was syndicated by the American Institute of Physics Inside Science News Service and published in MinnPost. They... Stephanie Horowitz CBI is in the news! One of the attendees at our History | Gender | Computing conference in May wrote this story, which was syndicated by the American Institute of Physics Inside Science News Service and published in MinnPost. They also used an image from our Control Data Corporation Records.

]]> A Day in the Life tag:blog.lib.umn.edu,2008:/horow021/cbi//6746.131422 2008-06-13T17:10:51Z 2008-06-13T17:25:00Z Decided this morning to try something new with the blog. Along with announcements and other information, I will hereby be presenting a series called from now on, very creatively, "A Day in the Life of an Archivist." This is on... Stephanie Horowitz Decided this morning to try something new with the blog. Along with announcements and other information, I will hereby be presenting a series called from now on, very creatively, "A Day in the Life of an Archivist." This is on the off chance that you are interested in what actually goes on behind the scenes at an archives, and because I've heard that one of the code-word professions for CIA operatives is "archivist" because no one knows what it actually means.

Feedback is most welcome.

June 13 (Friday the 13th): We recently got these two donations that I mentioned yesterday, and so this morning I've been going through one of them, seeing what's included and reboxing it for later processing. I'm also doing some preliminary light preservation work, such as dismantling a scrapbook and putting its contents in an acid-free folder. (In case you're interested, I do this because many times, it's not the album itself that has research value, it's the contents, and a folder is much better for preserving the contents than plasticky, sticky pages.)

We have three research appointments for today, and so I'll be doing some work with researchers this afternoon.

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