Data Processing Management Association records
Scope and Content Note
The records of the Data Processing Management Association (DPMA) document the administration of the association and the services it provided to its membership. Most heavily documented are the actions of governing boards and committees, and publications. An extensive subject file was created in the 1960s during the tenure of Executive Director R. Calvin Elliott. Unfortunately, the subject file was not maintained with any regularity after the late 1960s.
An initiative to preserve DPMA's history through the creation of the DPMA Archives under the presidency of Eddie Ashmore in the mid-1980s provided some records that were not otherwise retained. Eventually support for the archives waned and the materials were stored at headquarters. When Georgia Blair Miller, former DPMA president, donated her collection to CBI, some publications and subject files were transferred to this collection.
Acronyms Used in this Finding Aid
- DPMA = Data Processing Management Association
- NMAA = National Machine Accountants Association
- AFIPS = American Federation of Information Processing Societies
- CDP = Certificate Data Processing
Dates
- 1950-1993
Creator
- Data Processing Management Association (Organization)
Language of Materials
English
Access to materials:
Box 18, Folders 11-13 are restricted. Please contact archivist for details.
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
The Data Processing Management Organization (DPMA) began in 1949 as the National Machine Accountants Association (NMAA). NMAA was incorporated in late 1951 and held its first convention in 1952 in Minneapolis, MN. Ten years later, NMAA changed its name to expand its membership beyond finance and accounting professionals. The change to DPMA enabled the organization to encompass the broadening spectrum of data processing users in the 1960s. DPMA retained the organizational structure of NMAA with numerous chapters placed in geographic divisions. Later these divisions were replaced with regions. Each region had a representative on the Executive Council who served with several executive officers and implemented policy decisions from the International Board of Directors.
DPMA continued NMAA’s commitment to promoting increased education and professionalism in information processing activities and management, and became one of the largest information processing management professional associations. DPMA produced numerous publications and extended educational offerings to the association's members and the information processing community, and involved itself with the American Federation of Information Processing Societies (AFIPS) from 1974 until AFIPS's demise in 1990. To aid professionalism, DPMA developed the first Certificate in Data Processing (CDP) and the examination for it in 1962. DPMA augmented the CDP with the Registered Business Programmer examination in 1970.
In 1997, DPMA was renamed the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP), to better reflect its broad membership.
Extent
48 boxes (40.66 cubic feet)
Abstract
Records of the Data Processing Management Association (DPMA) document the administration of the association and the services it provided to its membership.
Arrangement of Collection
When the records were received, they were organized roughly as an immense subject file. In large part, this organization has been retained, although some segmentation into the following groups has been done to provide greater access or for preservation purposes:
- Boards, Committees, Councils and Forums, 1952-1993
- Subject Files, 1950-1992
- Publications and Near-Prints, 1952-1991
- Artifacts and Audiovisual Materials, 1951-1985
Acquisition:
The records were given to the Charles Babbage Institute by the Data Processing Management Association in 1991, Georgia Blair Miller in 1996, and Rhonda Mattson in 1998.
- Electronic data processing -- Management. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Electronic data processing -- Study and teaching. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Elliott, R. Calvin.
- National Machine Accountants Association.
- Trade associations. Subject Source: Library of Congress Subject Headings
- Title
- Data Processing Management Association Records, 1950-1993. Finding Aid.
- Author
- Prepared by Kevin D. Corbitt, March 1998, Maria Plonski, October 2002 and Jessica Huffman, April 2009.
- Date
- May 2005
- 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
