Workshop Abstracts (PDF)  |  Workshop Schedule (PDF, updated Oct. 6, 2009)  |  Conference Papers

The SIGCIS “Michael Mahoney And The Histories of Computing(s)” workshop will be held at the Hilton Hotel in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA on Sunday, October 18, 2009. Please register with SHOT if you have not already done so. The costs of the workshop are included in the standard SHOT registration. If you are attending just the SIGCIS workshop and not any other part of the SHOT meeting there is a $30.00 registration fee, payable to SHOT.

The Fund

SIGCIS established the Mahoney Fund in 2008, following a challenge by Ann Johnson to match her pledged giving in honor of historian of computing Michael S. Mahoney. The fund is a main capital reserve for the SIG, intended to provide a long-term income source and support for special projects. Money held in the fund will grow proportionately with SHOT’s own endowment. By September 2009 more than four thousand dollars was received for the fund, with another three thousand dollars pledged for future years.

by Alan J. Weissberger

On July 1st, the Computer History Museum (CHM) launched the Silicon Engine exhibit, which traces the history of semiconductors that led to the design of the first microprocessor- the Intel 4004. Very impressive artifacts from the CHM collection are displayed in a glass enclosed panel. The artifacts illustrate: early transistors, Jean Hoerni’s first planar transistor (the planar process of semiconductor manufacturing was a key enabler of producing ICs), the genesis of the integrated circuit, the first transistor radio, IBM SLT manufacturing process, a semiconductor based computer circuit board, a 1965 calculator, and other early computing devices. Jack Kilby’s TI engineering notebook pages on the design of the integrated circuit are particularly impressive.

Chairs of the SIG

Years shown are the SHOT annual meetings on which the terms began.
• 1987: Founding meeting – chair unknown.
• 1988: William Aspray, Charles Babbage Institute
• 1989: David K. Allison, Smithsonian Institution
• 1990-91: Judy O’Neil, Charles Babbage Institute
• 1992: Janet Abbate, University of Pennsylvania
• 1993-2005: Paul Ceruzzi, Smithsonian Institution
• 2005-Present: Thomas Haigh, University of Wisconsin--Milwaukee

SIGCIS History 1987-2005

The Association for Computing Machinery, founded in 1947, is the oldest and largest educational and scientific society dedicated to the computing profession, and today has members in more than 100 countries. To encourage historical research, the ACM History Committee announces a new program of short-term fellowships in ACM history. This year we plan to make up to two $2,500 awards to support historical research on the wide variety of ACM related activities, including ACM members, officers, and prize winners, as well as ACM as an organization. Successful candidates may be of any rank, from graduate students through senior researchers.

Series Editors, Laura DeNardis and Michael Zimmer

We are delighted to announce the formation of the MIT Press Information Society Series – an interdisciplinary series on technology, law, and society. The Information Society Series will address the social, legal, and policy implications of the Internet and new information technologies and will especially feature works from the growing global ranks of interdisciplinary scholars in information schools; communications departments; science, technology, and society programs; and programs in law, technology, and culture.

We are now accepting book proposals for the series. Preference will be given to monographs rather than edited volumes and books that are interdisciplinary, normative, and global in scope. Book proposals should include: 1) a prospectus (brief description, outstanding features and uniqueness of work, audience and market considerations, status of book, and recommended reviewers); 2) a detailed table of contents; 3) sample chapters; and 4) the author's curriculum vitae. Please submit completed proposals to laura.denardis@yale.edu and zimmerm@uwm.edu.

The Computer History Museum Prize is awarded by SIGCIS to the author of an outstanding book in the history of computing broadly conceived, published during the prior three years (e.g. books published in 2006-2008 are eligible for the inaugural 2009 award). Books in translation are eligible for three years following the date of their publication in English. The prize of $1000, established through the generosity of an anonymous donor who wishes to honor the Computer History Museum, is administered by SIGCIS, SHOT’s special interest group for computers, information and society. Publishers, authors, and other interested members of the computer-history community are invited to nominate books. Send one copy of the nominated title to each of the committee members listed below. To be considered, book submissions must be postmarked by 1 April 2009. For more information, please contact the prize committee chair or SIGCIS secretary.

The 2008 Joint Meeting of the BSHS, CSHPS, and HSS (aka 3 Societies) held at Keble College, Oxford in July was the site of several talks and sessions of interest to SIGCIS. These included a session I organized, titled ‚"Computing Without Borders: How Information Technology Crossed and Redefined Disciplinary Lines‚" and two others, "Computing in Industry and Academe‚Äù and ‚ÄúComputing and its Applications‚". The good scholarship and turnout across all the computing-related sessions point to a growing interest in computing among professional historians and philosophers of science. More details below.

Renowned historian, and friend and colleague of many SIGCIS members, Michael S. Mahoney, died last night. Further information, including UPDATES, is posted below.

One of the missions of SIGCIS is to create a repository of history of computing syllabi. The subject is taught all over the world, but there's not enough interaction between those who teach it. What better way to start than to share the syllabi we've developed?

If you would like to contribute yours to the collection here, just email it to november+at+sc.edu.