Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 37, No. 370.
        Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
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        Date: 2024-01-05 08:14:39+00:00
        From: Gerard Alberts <G.Alberts@uva.nl>
        Subject: Understanding information history: an Aspray for the new year

Readers of this list might be interested to know that the history of
computing series <https://www.springer.com/series/8442/books> I edit,
gives authors the chance to write shorter manuscripts called
SpringerBriefs in History of Computing
<https://www.springer.com/series/15184>. They are published more quickly
than a full-length manuscript and are available to readers in both
printed and electronic form. The briefs format is open to trying your
novel ideas: essays in the true sense of the word.

We have just published a SpringerBrief (98 pp.) by Bill Aspray,
entitled/Understanding Information History: The Case of America in 1920
<https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-44134-9>/.
Scholars have been writing about information history for approximately
25 years, about half as long as our tradition of scholarly writing about
computer history. There is still discussion underway of the nature and
scope of information history, and this brief book provides a heavily
illustrated case study. The book retells the history of the United
States in 1920 from an information perspective. It provides an
alternative, information-oriented account of commonly told stories about
farming, government administration, the Spanish Flu pandemic, and
Prohibition. It points the reader to the history of a number of
information-oriented institutions and activities that the traditional
histories only occasionally cover: the print media, libraries, public
and higher education, advertising, scientific research institutions,
management consulting, financial services industries, office appliances,
and communications technologies. It then examines academic efforts to
“discipline information” drawn from the precursor areas of computer
science and information science. A final theory chapter discusses what
one can learn from this case study about the nature and scope of
information history. The book is intentionally written to be easy to
assign to students or serve as the basis for lecture notes and
illustrations.

Thus, we recommend for all students of information history: an Aspray
for the new year.

Best wishes,
Gerard
SpringerBriefs in History of Computing
<https://www.springer.com/series/15184>
Book series History of Computing
<https://www.springer.com/series/8442/books>


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