Special Libraries, December 1966

Volume 57, Issue 10https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1966/1009/thumbnail.jp

Putting the spooks back in? The UK secret state and the history of computing

The post–World War II secret state (governmental bodies that handle national security, including signals intelligence, spying, counterintelligence, and some aspects of policing, as well as the central bureaucratic mechanisms of their control) is a lacuna in the history of UK computing. This article assesses the extent to which the UK secret state was a major user of computing technologies and examines the character of its computing tasks, as well as its relationships with industry and government, more broadly

The ingenuity of common workmen: and the invention of the computer

Since World War II, state support for scientific research has been assumed crucial to technological and economic progress. Governments accordingly spent tremendous sums to that end. Nothing epitomizes the alleged fruits of that involvement better than the electronic digital computer. The first such computer has been widely reputed to be the ENIAC, financed by the U.S. Army for the war but finished afterwards. Vastly improved computers followed, initially paid for in good share by the Federal Government of the United States, but with the private sector then dominating, both in development and use, and computers are of major significance.;Despite the supposed success of public-supported science, evidence is that computers would have evolved much the same without it but at less expense. Indeed, the foundations of modern computer theory and technology were articulated before World War II, both as a tool of applied mathematics and for information processing, and the computer was itself on the cusp of reality. Contrary to popular understanding, the ENIAC actually represented a movement backwards and a dead end.;Rather, modern computation derived more directly, for example, from the prewar work of John Vincent Atanasoff and Clifford Berry, a physics professor and graduate student, respectively, at Iowa State College (now University) in Ames, Iowa. They built the Atanasoff Berry Computer (ABC), which, although special purpose and inexpensive, heralded the efficient and elegant design of modern computers. Moreover, while no one foresaw commercialization of computers based on the ungainly and costly ENIAC, the commercial possibilities of the ABC were immediately evident, although unrealized due to war. Evidence indicates, furthermore, that the private sector was willing and able to develop computers beyond the ABC and could have done so more effectively than government, to the most sophisticated machines.;A full and inclusive history of computers suggests that Adam Smith, the eighteenth century Scottish philosopher, had it right. He believed that minimal and aloof government best served society, and that the inherent genius of citizens was itself enough to ensure the general prosperity

Automation and Management Accounting in British Manufacturing and Retail Financial Services, 1945-1968

This article looks at the effects of office mechanisation in greater detail by describing data processing innovations in major building societies during the dawn of the computer era. Reference to similar developments in clearing banks, industrial and computer organisations provides evidence as to the common experience in the computerisation of firms in the post-war years. As a result, research in this article offers a comparison between widespread technological change and changes unique to service sector organisations. Moreover, research in this article ascertains the extent to which the adoption of computer-related innovations in financial services sought to satisfy financial, rather than management accounting, purposes.banks, building societies, manufacturing, computers

Chemistry for audio heritage preservation : a review of analytical techniques for audio magnetic tapes

Vast and important cultural resources are entrusted to magnetic tape around the world, but they are susceptible to degradation, which may lead to severe replay problems. Audio magnetic tapes are complex and multicomponent devices containing organic compounds and metal systems, which can be potential catalysts for many degradative reactions in the presence of water, light, or heating. The aim of this review is to collect the literature concerning the analytical determinations and instrumental approaches that can achieve the chemical identification of the components in the tape and the degradation state. Thus, a combination of destructive (such as acetone extraction) and non-destructive techniques (such as ATR FTIR spectroscopy) have been proposed, together with SEM, ESEM, XRD and TGA analyses to assess the chemical and physical characterization of the tape with the purpose to individualize restoration treatments and optimize conditions for preservation. The impact of the studies reviewed in this paper may go beyond audio, being potentially relevant to video, data, instrumentation, and logging tapes

Silicon Valley Stories

Many countries try to promote the emergence of technological clusters and ecosystems for growth, counting on the synergies between companies of varying sizes and academic research. Most look to Silicon Valley as the mythical role model. It is therefore worth trying to understand what caused this region's exceptional development. Although abundant literature exists on the subject, it suggests a wide range of explanations. We propose to examine these accounts while trying to avoid boiling down a century of co-evolution in technologies, institutions, professional communities and markets into a few simplistic recipes that will result in inefficient state policies.

The Effects of Knowledge Versus Production Boundaries on Firm Survival through Systemic Technological Change

Firms that develop complex products are at greater risk from systemic technological change, which alters the way product components work together, and can also affect the nature of demand for a product. We ask what combinations of knowledge and production boundaries best position firms that make complex products to survive systemic change. Some work suggests that vertical integration might improve survival but other research posits that maintaining broad knowledge boundaries could be sufficient, as it enables efficiency through outsourcing yet retains effectiveness in integrating component technologies. We propose that the answer depends on whether we focus on technological or market boundaries, and that while in general broad boundaries favor adaptation to systemic change, integrating downstream from manufacturing can hinder adaptation. In addition, we argue that integration into the manufacture of components may be more critical than is suggested in prior work. Our longitudinal study of systemic change in the hard disk drive industry provides preliminary support for these predictions

Special Libraries, March 1968

Volume 59, Issue 3https://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/sla_sl_1968/1002/thumbnail.jp

Tecnología en la Enseñanza del Inglés

Documento PDF, 25 páginasGuía de estudio para el curso Tecnología en la enseñanza del inglés, código 5180, del Programa Diplomado, Bachillerato y Licenciatura en Enseñanza del Inglés para I y II ciclos que imparte la UNED.Universidad Estatal a Distancia de Costa Ric