Acquisition: The records were given to the Charles Babbage Institute by the American Federation of Information Processing Societies in 1988, accession 989-07; by Eddie M. Ashmore in 1991, accession 991-27; and by Howard Funk in 1991, accessions 991-07 and 991-23.

Access: The collection is unrestricted.

Copyright: CBI 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). Please cite the collection as follows: American Federation of Information Processing Societies Records (CBI 44), Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

The American Federation of Information Processing Societies (AFIPS) was established on May 10, 1961, to advance and disseminate knowledge in the field of information science, and to represent member societies on an international level. The federation was an outgrowth of the National Joint Computer Committee, which was established in 1951 to sponsor the Joint Computer Conferences. The founding societies of AFIPS were the Association for Computing Machinery, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, and the Institute of Radio Engineers (the latter two eventually merged into the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers).

AFIPS was managed by a board of directors, originally called the "Governing Board." Each member society had one to three directors on the board depending on the size of the society; each affiliated member had one director. Under this board were various committees including the executive committee, the education committee, the finance committee, the award committee, and the conference committee.

One of the main contributions of AFIPS was its sponsorship of the Joint Computer Conference, renamed the National Computer Conference in October 1973. These semi-annual conferences featured technical sessions and exhibits relating to the field of information processing. They were discontinued after 1987 because of the financial condition of the organization.

AFIPS also supported smaller conferences and workshops such as the Office Automation Conference (OAC), produced publications including the Annals of the History of Computing, and presented the annual Harry Goode Memorial Award to individuals of outstanding achievement in information processing.

Annals of the History of Computing. 8: 3 (July 1986). Special Issue: AFIPS, 1961-1986, 25th Anniversary.

Ralston, Anthony. Encyclopedia of Computer Science and Engineering. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, 1983, pp. 60-61.

The collection contains minutes, agendas, exhibits, and reports of the board of directors of the American Federation of Information Processing Societies and its executive committee. Also included are minutes, exhibits, and agendas from conference boards concerned with the Joint Computer Conference, (later, National Computer Conference), and from the conference committee that was responsible for the day-to-day planning and operation of the conferences. The records give an overall view of the activities of AFIPS from 1964 through 1984, and in-depth coverage of the planning and operation of the National Computer Conferences from 1978 to 1986. Prominent in the minutes are the activities of H. G. Asmus, Bruce Gilchrist, Richard I. Tanaka, Eddie Ashmore, and Howard L. Funk.

The collection is divided into six series:

Administration, 1985-1988, contains records related to the operation of AFIPS including manuals, correspondence, budget materials, legal documents, reports and activity logs. The collection also documents the curtailment of the organization's activities, primarily through the reports of executive director John Gilbert to Eddie Ashmore. This material came primarily from the donations of Funk and Ashmore.

Board of Directors Minutes, 1964-1989, include minutes, exhibits, and reports of the governing board, later called the board of directors. The board delegated power to various committees, appointed committee chairmen, made overall policy decisions, and had final authority in any action taken by AFIPS. Also included are minutes of the 1966, 1967, and 1968 meetings of the "Federation," which seems to have been a member society group that seconded the actions of the board.

Conference Board Minutes, 1969-1987, include minutes from the Joint Computer Conference Board (JCCB); its successor, the National Computer Conference Board (NCCB); and the AFIPS Conference Board (ACB). On October 16, 1973 the JCCB, which was responsible for coordination of the spring and fall Joint Computer Conferences, became the NCCB when it decided to change its meeting format to an annual National Computer Conference. On March 3, 1980, the NCCB approved the creation of an AFIPS Conference Board to oversee all conference activities not directly part of the National Computer Conference. The ACB met in the afternoon following NCCB meetings and kept separate minutes until August 1982. For the next two years the ACB and NCCB held joint meetings. In 1985 the two boards again separated and each produced their own minutes. These boards set the overall direction and policies of the conferences, coordinated the actions of the Conference Steering Committee and the National Computer Conference Committee, and referred problems to appropriate committees such as the finance and executive committees of AFIPS.

Executive Committee Minutes, 1964-1987, 1990, include minutes, exhibits, and agendas. The executive committee approved expenditures, negotiated on behalf of the board of directors, recommended appointments of committee chairs, and carried out other actions of the board. The minutes of May 19, 1983 are missing. A divider indicated that a meeting was held on January 25, 1968, but no minutes were found. There are no minutes in the collection from November 1987- February 1990.

IFIP Records, 1987, consists of one set of printed minutes from an IFIP meeting, brochures for IFIP conferences, and a file on the 1989 IFIP conference.

National Computer Conference, 1985-1988, consists of planning files for conferences scheduled before the NCC was discontinued. This series also includes a guidelines manual for NCC and documentation of the dissolution agreement.

National Computer Conference Committee Minutes, 1978-1986, include minutes, exhibits, and reports of subcommittees. These documents contain detailed plans of each conference, such as information about proposed agendas, resolution of problems with exhibit space, arrangements for speakers, and other day-to-day items.

Some acronyms commonly found in the minutes:

CSC = Conference Steering Committee
FJCC = Fall Joint Computer Conference
HQ = AFIPS headquarters
IAP = Industry Advisory Panel
NCC = National Computing Conference
OAC = Office Automation Conference
SJCC = Spring Joint Computer Conference


Related collections include:

Jean E. Sammet Papers (CBI 77);
Claude A.R. Kagan Papers (CBI 18);
George Glaser Papers (CBI 23).CONTAINER LIST


Box / Folder / Administration,

10 / 28 / AFIPS Brochure, 1988.
9 / 15 / Audit and Taxes, 1987.
9 / 13 / Ballots on NCC Dissoultion and Budget, 1987-1988.
9 / 16 / Budget materials, 1982 and 1987.
10 / 15 / Eleventh World Computer Congress, 1987-1988.
9 / 22 / Federation Operating Committee Reports, 1987.
10 / 25 / Financial Management Reports, 1987.
10 / 26-27 / Financial Reports, 1987.
10 / 7-8 / General Correspondence, Feb 1987 - Dec 1987.
9 / 12 / General Correspondence, 1988.
10 / 16-17 / General Correspondence, 1988.
10 / 9-10 / Headquarters File: Legal & Insurance, Director's Log, and Personnel, 1987-1988.
10 / 22-23 / Headqurters Standdown File, 1987.
10 / 4 / John Gilbert's Reports, 1987.
10 / 13 / John Gilbert's Logs, 1987.


Box / Folder / Manuals,

9 / 8 / AFIPS Policy Notebook, Sept 23, 1987.
9 / 9 / AFIPS Policy Notebook, 1986.
9 / 10-11 / AFIPS Board Policy Book, Jan 19, 1985.
9 / 18 / Employee Handbook, May 1985.
9 / 19 / Volunteers' Guide, 1985-1986.
9 / 20 / Meeting Notes, 1987-1988.
9 / 17 / Office Space leased by AFIPS, 1988.
10 / 24 / Pending Financial Liabilities, 1987.
9 / 21 / President's Letters, 1987-1988.
9 / 23 / Presidential Appointments, 1988.
10 / 5-6 / Projects, 1987-1988.
9 / 16 / Reports, 1988.
9 / 25 / World Computer Conference, 1988.
10 / 14 / World Congress on Computing Litigation, 1987-1988.


Box / Folder / AFIPS Board of Directors,


1 / 1-7 / Minutes, Oct 26, 1964 - Feb 23, 1983.
2 / 1 / Minutes, May 21, 1983 - Nov 30, 1984.
9 / 1-2 / Minutes, Mar 8, 1985 - Aug 27, 1989.


Box / Folder / AFIPS Executive Committee,

2 / 2-8 / Minutes, Apr 19, 1964 - Aug 29, 1973.
3 / 1-8 / Minutes, Oct 15, 1973 - Dec 3, 1981.
4 / 1-3 / Minutes, Jan 25, 1982 - Nov 29, 1984, Aug. 5, 1990 - Oct. 13, 1990.
9 / 3-5 / Minutes, Feb 6, 1985 - Mar 17, 1990.


Box / Folder / Conference Boards,

4 / 4-8 / Minutes, Mar 19, 1969 - Sep 28, 1978.
5 / 1-7 / Minutes, Nov 30, 1978 - Oct 20, 1986.


Box / Folder / IFIP,

10 / 11-12 / IFIP '89, 1984-1988.
10 / 2 / IFIP Conference Brochures, 1980-1988.
10 / 3 / IFIP Minutes, Sept 1987.


Box / Folder / National Computer Conference,

9 / 7 / National Computer Conference Guidelines Manual, 1985.


Box / Folder / NCC '87,

10 / 18 / Correspondence, 1986-1987.
10 / 20 / Newsclippings, 1987.
10 / 19 / Reports, 1987.
9 / 26-27 / NCC '88, 1986-1988.
9 / 24 / NCC and World Computer Conference Trademarks, 1988.
10 / 21 / NCC Contract Negotiations, 1987.
9 / 28 / NCC Shutdown, 1985-1988.
10 / 1 / NCC Shutdown, 1985-1988.


Box / Folder / National Computer Conference Committee,

6 / 1-6 / Minutes, Dec 15, 1978 - Feb 18, 1984.
7 / 1-6 / Minutes, Apr 30, 1984 - July 14 & 15, 1985.
8 / 1-2 / Minutes, Oct 24, 1985 - Mar 22, 1986.
9 / 6 / Minutes, Dec 6, 1986 - Sept 20, 1987.