Charles Babbage Institute
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The Charles Babbage Institute is a research center at the University of Minnesota specializing in the history of information technology, particularly the history since 1935 of digital computing, programming/software, and computer networking.[1]
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[edit] Activities
In addition to holding important historical archives, in paper and electronic form, its staff of historians and archivists conduct and publish historical and archival research that promotes the study of the history of information technology internationally. CBI also carries out and encourages research in the area and related topics (such as archival methods); to do this, it offers graduate fellowships and travel grants, organizes conferences and workshops, and participates in public programming. It also serves as an international clearinghouse of resources for the history of information technology.
Also valuable for researchers are its extensive collection of oral history interviews, nearly 400 in total. Many oral histories with important early figures in the field have been conducted by CBI staff and collaborating colleagues. Owing to the poorly documented state of many early computer developments, these oral histories are immensely valuable documents. Most of CBI's oral histories are transcribed and available online.
The archival collection also contains manuscripts; records of professional associations; corporate records (including the Burroughs Corporate Records and the Control Data Corporate Records, among many others; trade publications; periodicals; manuals and product literature for older systems, photographic material (stills and moving), and a variety of other rare reference materials.
It is now a center at the University of Minnesota, and is located at its Twin Cities, Minnesota campus, where it is housed in the Elmer L. Andersen Library.
CBI has major archival research collections pertaining to these organizations:
- Ada Programming Language Materials (CBI 157)
- American Federation of Information Processing Societies Records (CBI 44)
- American National Standards Institute. X3H2 Records (CBI 168)
- Applied Data Research, Software Products Division Records (CBI 154)
- Association for Computing Machinery Records (CBI 205) and ACM Publications (CBI 110)
- Association for Women in Computing (CBI 49) and Twin Cities Chapter Records (CBI 7)
- Association of Data Processing Service Organizations (ADAPSO) Records (CBI 172)
- William Blake Archive Project Records (CBI 174)
- Burroughs Corporation Records (CBI 90)
- Computer and Communications Industry Association Antitrust Records (CBI 13)
- Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility Records (CBI 107)
- Control Data Corporation Records (CBI 80)
- Data Processing Management Association Records (CBI 88) and Northwest Chapter Records (CBI 167)
- Digital Equipment Computer Users Society (DECUS) Proceedings and Publications (CBI 150)
- Engineering Research Associates (ERA) - Remington Rand - Sperry Rand Records (CBI 176)
- ENIAC Trial Exhibits Master Collection (CBI 145)
- GUIDE International Corporation Records (CBI 84)
- History of Programming Languages Conference Records (CBI 19)
- Honeywell vs. Sperry Rand Records (CBI 1)
- International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) Conference Papers, 1966-1986 (CBI 196) and Working Group 2.1 ALGOL Bulletin Records (CBI 29)
- International Y2K Cooperation Center Records (CBI 153)
- National Bureau of Standards Computer Literature Collection (CBI 32)
- SC34 Committee Records (CBI 199) - development of SGML and other standards influential in the development of current XML tools
- SHARE, Inc. Records (CBI 21)
- University of Illinois Computer-based Education Research Laboratory PLATO Reports (CBI 133)
- USE, Inc. Records (CBI 20)
In addition, CBI has collections of archival papers from many notable figures in computing, such as Walter L. Anderson; Isaac L. Auerbach; Charles W. Bachman; Edmund C. Berkeley; Gertrude Blanch; Wallace J. Eckert; Margaret R. Fox; George Glaser; Martin A. Goetz; Carl Hammer; Frances E. Holberton; Brian Kahin; Bryan S. Kocher; Mark P. McCahill; Daniel D. McCracken; Calvin N. Mooers; William C. Norris; Donn B. Parker; Alan J. Perlis; Robert M. Price; Claire K. Schultz; Willis H. Ware
[edit] History
CBI was founded in 1978 as the International Charles Babbage Society, and initially operated in Palo Alto, California.
In 1979, the American Federation of Information Processing Societies (AFIPS) became a principal sponsor of the Society, which was renamed the Charles Babbage Institute.
In 1980, the Institute moved to the University of Minnesota, which contracted with the principals of the Charles Babbage Institute to sponsor and house the Institute. In 1989, CBI became an organized research unit of the University.
[edit] References
- ^ William Aspray, "Leadership in Computing History: Arthur Norberg and the Charles Babbage Institute." IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 29 #4 (Oct.-Dec. 2007): 16-26.
