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cyhist apr 7 1998 b
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========================================================================= Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1998 13:23:12 -0500
Reply-To: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> Sender: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> From: "David S. Bennahum" <davidsol@panix.com>
Subject: Card Readers- university courses in old computers
In-Reply-To: <1.5.4.32.19980407164053.0071b754@pop.cpsc.ucalgary.ca> Mime-Version: 1.0
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Community Memory: Discussion List on the History of Cyberspace ______________________________________________________________________
>I have had a request from the Smithsonian. They have data (on cards) for about 4,000 elephants and they can't find a way of getting it into a computer. Does anyone know of a functional card reader in an organization that might be willing to try and read the cards and put them on a computer file?
Mike's post reminded me of a recent conversation I had with someone. I was told that there were increasing numbers of graduate programs in the study of "old computers"-- meaning teaching people how to program on them, and use them, because apparently this is a) interesting and of scholarly value and b) there's a lot of demand (from libraries, etc.) to have people trained on resusicating old systems.
So I was wondering how many people on the list teach "old computers" in departments. Do any of them grant degrees in this field (what would we call it, there's got to be a better phrase than "old computers.") What is the history of this field of study? What would the highlights of a curriculum be?
For instance, I heard that Harvard has one of the world's most extensive library collections of government documents in digital form. Many of these exist on magnetic tape, which require old (i.e. "dead") systems, and that the head librarian there frequently finds himself dealing with these issues of where to find working systems to keep the collection alive. Does anyone have first-hand narratives of working in a library, research department, etc. and having to curate an old collection of data?
And on a trivia note: what is the longest running, continuously operated digital computer in the world? Is there some FAA computer, for instance, that hasn't been switched off for 32 years? Or some similar example.
/d
CM Moderator
PS Those of you in organizations requiring the use of "very old" computers, it could be interesting to hear a little bit about how you use them, and maintain them.
______________________________________________________________________
Reply-To: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> Sender: "CYHIST Community Memory: Discussion list on the History of
Cyberspace" <CYHIST@MAELSTROM.STJOHNS.EDU> From: "David S. Bennahum" <davidsol@panix.com>
Subject: Card Readers- university courses in old computers
In-Reply-To: <1.5.4.32.19980407164053.0071b754@pop.cpsc.ucalgary.ca> Mime-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit
______________________________________________________________________
Community Memory: Discussion List on the History of Cyberspace ______________________________________________________________________
>I have had a request from the Smithsonian. They have data (on cards) for about 4,000 elephants and they can't find a way of getting it into a computer. Does anyone know of a functional card reader in an organization that might be willing to try and read the cards and put them on a computer file?
Mike's post reminded me of a recent conversation I had with someone. I was told that there were increasing numbers of graduate programs in the study of "old computers"-- meaning teaching people how to program on them, and use them, because apparently this is a) interesting and of scholarly value and b) there's a lot of demand (from libraries, etc.) to have people trained on resusicating old systems.
So I was wondering how many people on the list teach "old computers" in departments. Do any of them grant degrees in this field (what would we call it, there's got to be a better phrase than "old computers.") What is the history of this field of study? What would the highlights of a curriculum be?
For instance, I heard that Harvard has one of the world's most extensive library collections of government documents in digital form. Many of these exist on magnetic tape, which require old (i.e. "dead") systems, and that the head librarian there frequently finds himself dealing with these issues of where to find working systems to keep the collection alive. Does anyone have first-hand narratives of working in a library, research department, etc. and having to curate an old collection of data?
And on a trivia note: what is the longest running, continuously operated digital computer in the world? Is there some FAA computer, for instance, that hasn't been switched off for 32 years? Or some similar example.
/d
CM Moderator
PS Those of you in organizations requiring the use of "very old" computers, it could be interesting to hear a little bit about how you use them, and maintain them.
______________________________________________________________________
