ACM History Committee Update

1. ACM History Committee Update Mary Hall Computer Science and ISI Univ. of Southern California mhall@isi.edu ACM SIG Governing Board Meeting July 31, 2007

2. ACM History Committee Members Co-Chairs: Richard Snodgrass, Computer Science, University of Arizona, rts@cs.arizona.edu David S. Wise, Computer Science, Indiana University, dswise@cs.indiana.edu Historians: William Aspray, Informatics, Indiana University, waspray@indiana.edu Michael S. Mahoney, History, Princeton University, mike@princeton.edu SIG Governing Board Liaison: Mary Hall, USC Information Sciences Institute, mhall@isi.edu Publications Board Liaison: Carol Hutchins, Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences Library, hutchins@nyu.edu ACM HQ Representatives: Patricia Ryan, Deputy Executive Director, ACM, ryan_p@acm.org Rosemary McGuinness, Manager, Office of Policy and Administration, ACM, mcguinness@acm.org Len Shustek, Chair, Board of Trustees, Computer History Museum, len@shustek.com Webmaster Jesse Tadlock, Computer Science, University of Arizona, jtadlock@arizona.edu ACM Staff contact for logistics: Monique Chang, Human Resources Director, ACM, chang@hq.acm.org July, 2007, SGB Meeting

3. ACM History Committee Charter The ACM History Committee fosters preservation and interpretation of the history of the ACM and its role in the development of computing. To this end,the Committee provides guidance within the Association and carries out activities independently and in collaboration with other groups. July, 2007, SGB Meeting

4. OUTLINE • Motivation • Activities of the History Committee • Current SIG History Activities • Possible SIG History Activities • History of Computing • Summary July, 2007, SGB Meeting

5. Why a History Committee? • Created in July 2004 • Why now? • ACM is celebrating its 60th anniversary. • Few of those present at the founding of ACM are still with us. • We are losing our leaders, and our history. • There are ACM conferences for which no printed proceedings can be located. July, 2007, SGB Meeting

6. The History of ACM is Important! • ACM, as the first society of computing, should not only contribute to the future of information technology, but should document its past. • What does the last sixty years of ACM tell us about the next ten years, the next sixty years, both of ACM and of computing in general? July, 2007, SGB Meeting

7. History Committee Activities:Oral Histories Collecting, facilitating & (co-)sponsoring oral histories http://portal.acm.org/toc.cfm?id= 1141880&dl=ACM • Turing award winners • Completed: Charles Bachman (SIGMOD sponsor), John Backus (CHM sponsor) • In progress: Robert Tarjan • In progress, SIGPLAN co-sponsorship: Tony Hoare (also CHM), John McCarthy (also CHM), Peter Naur • In progress, SIGACT co-sponsorship: Donald Knuth (also CHM), Michael Rabin, and Juris Hartmanis • Former ACM presidents • Completed: Franz Alt, Bernie Galler, Walter Carlson, Anthony Ralston (co-sponsored by SIAM), Jean Sammet (co-sponsored by SIGPLAN), Anthony Oettinger, Harry Huskey (co-sponsored by CHM) • In progress:Adele Goldberg (co-sponsored by SIGPLAN and CHM), Dan McCracken, Peter Denning, David Brandin, Paul Abrahams, Sidney Weinstein • Other • In progress: Irene Hollister, ACM’s first Executive Assistant; Kelly Gottlieb, Influential Volunteer July, 2007, SGB Meeting

8. History Committee Activities: May 2007 CACM Special Issue • SIG-related papers: • History of SIGGRAPH (Brown & Cunningham) • SIGCOMM’s Archeological Journey into Networking’s Past (Edmondson-Yurkanan) • History of HOPL (Bergin) July, 2007, SGB Meeting

9. Other Selected History Committee Activities • ACM History website, http://history.acm.org • This will allow us to link to historical information and SIG activities (please send me your links!) • ACM Archive Project • Catalogued files as ACM moved its headquarters • RFP out for archiving these files • American Museum of American History Digitization • Transcripts of ACM Presidents Franz Alt, Herb Grosch, Alton Householder, Harry Huskey, and John Mauchly, and ACM influential leader Paul Armer, SIGPLAN leader Ralph Griswold along with a round-table discussion at an ACM conference in 1967. July, 2007, SGB Meeting

10. SIG Activities: Retrospectives • Retrospective Conferences, Workshops, etc. • SIGGRAPH Pioneer Day • SIGCOMM 1999 Tutorial on the Technical History of the Internet • SIGPLAN History of Programming Languages I (1978), II (1993), III (2007) • Published Retrospectives • 20 Years of PLDI (SIGPLAN) • Milestones in Computer Graphics (SIGGRAPH, 1988) • SIGMOD History Committee • SIGSOFT Impact Project:http://www.sigsoft.org/impact/index.htm • Awards • Awards for service and technical achievement • PLDI Most Influential Paper (10 year retrospective) • ICSE Most Influential Paper (10 year retrospective) July, 2007, SGB Meeting

11. SIG Activities: Collections • SIGCOMM Think Protocols Archive: • Early network papers not otherwise available • SIGMOD Anthology Project and Digital Symposium Collection • SIGCSE Oral History of Computer Educators • Wiki and Workshop at ITiCSE 2005 • SIGUCCS History Project July, 2007, SGB Meeting

12. Possible SIG Activities: SIG-sponsored HOx? • Operating Systems • Databases • Graphics • Communications • Computer Science • Software Engineering • Computer-Human Interface • ... History Committee can help you! July, 2007, SGB Meeting

13. Possible SIG Activities:Turing Award web site • SIG Role: • “Adopt” websites • Contribute to content July, 2007, SGB Meeting

14. Possible SIG Activities: SIG History • The History Committee is interested in working with a SIG on an institutional history and co-sponsoring cost • Needed • A SIG with a history • Collection of founders and early members interested in participating • Model: IT Corporate Histories Project • The deliverables of this effort • Narrative history of the SIG • Relevant lists: important people and dates, important events and milestones July, 2007, SGB Meeting

15. Possible SIG Activities:Records of Technical Conferences • Consistent record-keeping of conferences • Program committee • Authors • Keynotes • Schedule and session chairs • Submission breakdown by country • Submission acceptance/rejection rates by sub-topic • Most of this information is known by the program chair, some is not preserved July, 2007, SGB Meeting

16. Possible SIG Activities:Archives and Web sites • Track SIG organization, awards, etc. • Many SIGs have technical awards • Consider archiving “papers” of award winners (e.g., CHM and CBI) July, 2007, SGB Meeting

17. History of Computing: Institutions • IEEE Annals of the History of Computing • Charles Babbage Institute • Software History Center • Computer History Museum (one of several around the world) • National Archive for the History of Computing (UK) Slide source: Mike Mahoney July, 2007, SGB Meeting

18. History of Computing on the Web • Tom Haigh’s Computer File • JAN Lee’s site at University of Virginia • Tim Bergin’s Computer Museum • Computer Museum • Charles Babbage Institute • ACM Portal • ... Slide source: Mike Mahoney July, 2007, SGB Meeting

19. We need your help! • We are looking for the next SIG Governing Board Liaison • Let me know if you have suggestions July, 2007, SGB Meeting

20. Summary • We are a resource for the SIGs • Let us know of your historical activities and we will help publicize them! • If you would like to start new activities, let us know how we can help! • The SIGs can help us • Tell us how you are preserving your history so perhaps other SIGs can follow your lead. • Help ACM collect and preserve information in your area. • Co-sponsor oral histories for luminaries in your area. July, 2007, SGB Meeting