SHARE, Inc. records
Scope and Content Note
The collection consists of correspondence, technical reports, manuals, meeting agendas, published conference proceedings, publications, and administrative records. Correspondence is largely limited to the early years of the organization (1955-1958) and is related to SHARE meetings seven through twelve.
Technical Reports include numerically-arranged reports distributed to the SHARE membership, including the SHARE Secretary’s Distribution (SSD). The SSD technical reports were published monthly by the SHARE Secretary for SHARE members. Issues include correspondence to the membership, meeting information, and project newsletters. Most of the first series of reports are on microfilm. The SSD reports are available only on paper.
A variety of SHARE manuals are included in the collection, such as the Reference Manual, which provides membership information and describes the organization and purpose of SHARE. SHARE Reference Manuals (including periodic updates) were distributed to each new SHARE member installation and include the bylaws, membership list, organizational structure, procedural standards, and the obligations and advantages of membership.
Agendas contains materials generated for the two major and two smaller bi-annual interim meetings, including the meeting agendas (preliminary and final), with open and closed session information; conference notes taken by Don Boettner of the University of Michigan Computing Center; registration materials; handouts and manuals debuting new IBM machines. Agenda materials also contain information about the various projects/committees which Boettner was involved in within SHARE, such as the Command Language Project (CL), TSS, FOTRAN and the MTS System.
Also contained in the collection are official bound proceedings published after each main SHARE meeting. The proceedings report project activity session by session and were distributed to each member installation that attended the meeting. In addition, newsletters, articles and reports, including several volumes of Computer Management and Evaluation: Selected Papers, and a published report from SHARE's Advance Language Development Committee are included.
Administrative records, including reports, personnel lists, questionnaires, and reports, documents and correspondence to all SHARE members can also be located in the collection.
Dates
- 1955-1994
Creator
- SHARE (Association) (Organization)
Language of Materials
English
Access to materials:
Access to the collection is unrestricted.
Copyright:
The Charles Babbage Institute holds the copyright to all materials in the collection, except for items covered by a prior copyright (such as published materials). Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provisions of the copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).
Historical Note
In 1955 a group of Los Angeles-area International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) 701 users met in Santa Monica, California to investigate the practicality of a joint effort to coordinate computer programming work. Represented were the Rand Corporation, North American Aviation, Lockheed Aircraft Corporation, and IBM. SHARE evolved into a forum for the data processing community to exchange information about technical areas of mutual concern, such as programming languages, operating systems, and database systems for general users of medium and large-scale IBM computers, including the 360/50 and systems 370 and 303X.
SHARE was later incorporated as a non-profit corporation based in Chicago, Illinois. Two main SHARE meetings were held each year in February/March and in August. For example the 70th conference was called “SHARE 70” and was held in February/March 1988. “SHARE 71” was held in August 1988. The interim SHARE meetings were held during the same year in May and November, but marked as “.5” meetings (i.e. “SHARE 71.5 was held in November 1988.) These smaller interim meetings were held approximately three months prior to the major meetings to plan the latter meeting’s agenda and to provide more time for those working with projects needing to meet more than twice a year. SHARE also held a few joint meetings with GUIDE. SHARE was governed by a board of directors, an advisory council, divisions and task groups, projects and committees. Advisory councils were responsible for directing the work of the various SHARE projects and their committees. It produced a newsletter, and helped develop conventions and standards to promote the exchange of ideas and concerns.
Extent
19 boxes (18.5 cubic feet)
Abstract
The collection contains correspondence, technical reports, manuals, meeting agendas, published conference proceedings, publications, and administrative records of SHARE, Inc.
Arrangement of Collection
The materials in this collection are arranged into the following groups:
- Correspondence, 1955-1969
- Technical Reports, 1955-1982
- Manuals, 1956-1970
- SHARE Meeting Agendas, 1956-1970
- SHARE Meeting Proceedings, 1957-1992
- Publications, 1964-1990
- Administrative Records, 1976-1989
Acquisition:
The records were given to the Charles Babbage Institute by Paul Armer and George W. Gorsline in 1981, Joan M. Winters in 1991, Dayton-Hudson's MIS Resource Library in 1993, Stanford University Libraries Special Collections in 1995, and Don Boettner of the University of Michigan Computing Center in circa 1990.
- Computer programming Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Computer users -- Societies, etc. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Computers Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- IBM computers Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- International Business Machines Corporation
- SHARE (Association)
- Title
- SHARE, Inc. Records, 1955-1994. Finding Aid.
- Author
- Prepared by Bruce H. Bruemmer and Kevin D. Corbitt, January 1995; revised by Maria Plonski, August 2002.
- Date
- 2004
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Collecting Area Details
Contact The Charles Babbage Institute Archives Collecting Area
Elmer L. Andersen Library
222 - 21st Avenue South
Minneapolis MN 55455
612-624-5050
cbi@umn.edu
