The Making and Meanings of a Computing Reference Work

This manuscript is about an artifact, the Encyclopedia of Computer Science (ECS). From the time that computer science was mature enough to have its own reference book until printed reference books began to be eclipsed by online productsthat is, roughly the final quarter of the 20th centuryECS was the premiere reference work for this field. A second purpose of this book is to introduce with this important case study a theoretical examination of how one can study the history of a professional field through a deep examination of its reference tools (encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, yearbooks, etc.). To better understand ECS, an examination was conducted on the extensive literature about the history of encyclopedias and then used it to ask probing questions about ECS.

Thoroughly examines the history and impact of the Encyclopedia of Computer Science (ECS) Examines, theoretically, how to study history of a professional field through a deep examination of its reference tools Reviews the extensive literature on the history of encyclopedias and used it to ask probing questions about the ECS

Autorentext

William Aspray is a full professor in the Department of Information Science at the University of Colorado Boulder. He has also taught at the University of Texas Austin, Indiana University Bloomington, Virginia Tech, University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard University, among others. He holds a Ph.D. in the history of science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He has served as the Director of the IEEE Center for the History of Electrical Engineering, Associate Director of the Charles Babbage Institute for the History of Information Processing at the University of Minnesota, and Executive Director at the Computing Research Association. He is the author or editor of over two dozen books dealing with the history of computing, mathematics, and information. He has published more than 100 articles in the key information history journals and served on their editorial boards, including Information Research, The Information Society, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, Information & Culture: A Journal of History, and Communications of the ACM. James W. Cortada is a Senior Research Fellow at the Charles Babbage Institute at the University of Minnesota. He holds a Ph.D. in modern history and worked at IBM in various sales, consulting, management, and executive positions for 38 years, including in IBM's management research institute, The IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV). There, he led and participated in over three dozen global studies on the use of information and business managerial practices. He is also the author of over a dozen books on the management of business, information technologies, and management. He also authored nearly two dozen books on the history of information technology, its business practices and industry, and about knowledge management. His articles on the history of information have appeared in many of the "journals of record" for each topic he has studied, including Information and Culture, Library and Information History, Business History Review, IEEE Annals of the History of Computing, Enterprise and Society, and Technology and Culture, among others. He serves on the editorial boards of Information and Culture, Library and Information History, and IEEE Annals of the History of Computing.

Klappentext

This manuscript is about an artifact, the Encyclopedia of Computer Science (ECS). From the time that computer science was mature enough to have its own reference book until printed reference books began to be eclipsed by online products—that is, roughly the final quarter of the 20th century—ECS was the premiere reference work for this field. A second purpose of this book is to introduce with this important case study a theoretical examination of how one can study the history of a professional field through a deep examination of its reference tools (encyclopedias, dictionaries, atlases, yearbooks, etc.). To better understand ECS, an examination was conducted on the extensive literature about the history of encyclopedias and then used it to ask probing questions about ECS.

Inhalt

1. An Encyclopedia of Computer Science.- 2. Audience.- 3. Stance and Style.- 4. Content.- 5. The Editorial Process.