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Digital Audio Recording

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:19.

URL:

http://www.ieee.org/organizations/history_center/sloan/DAR/dar_index.html

Excerpt:

The use of digital encoding in telecommunications and the other advances in DSP (digital signal processing), such as in speech synthesis, led to the use of DSP in recording. In 1972 Nippon Columbia began to digitally master recordings, and in the same year the BBC began using pulse code modulation for high-quality sound distribution in radio and television and in its studios began using an 8-track digital audio recorder with error correction. By 1975, it was demonstrated that DSP could improve old recordings (in the first case, by engineer Tom Stockham, historical recordings of Enrico Caruso), and digital audio tapes began to be widely adopted by audio engineers. Music synthesizers incorporating digital recording also began to proliferate. But then the technology took an interesting turn.

Annotation:

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) has established this site to record the history of digital methods of sound recording and playing, the technology behind compact discs and digital audio tape. A brief historical essay prefaces the site, and a timeline beginning in the late 1950s and running up to the present day details the milestones in the technology. An extensive bibliography of digital recording accompanies the essay and timeline, as does an international list of educational institutions involved with the original (and continuing) research in the field. In addition, there are links on the site to other histories of the compact disc, CD-ROM and recording technology in general. The distinguishing feature of this site is its interest in collecting (via input forms) the personal recollections of those who worked on the research and development of digital audio recording and its associated technologies. Visiting engineers are asked to submit photographs, audio clips and other memorabilia to the site for its historical archive.

Iconographic Archives

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:19.

URL:

http://www.cis.unibo.it/icon/home.html

Author:

University of Bologna

Excerpt:

The Iconographic Archives (IA) set up by CIS illustrate the history of science and technology at the University of Bologna from the Middle-Ages to the twentieth century. The IA include 700 colour and b/w images with captions. Captions contain information about the artifacts, people and places represented as well as the location, author and date of the originals.

Annotation:

The Iconographic Archives are a project of the University of Bologna's International Centre for the History of Universities and Science (CIS). The Archives are an online repository for images of people, artifacts, and places with corresponding descriptions and location information. The University, founded in 1088, has a long history as a center for scientific scholarship, and these images reflect this relationship. Though the CIS site is available in English, the archival information is in Italian, requiring some knowledge of the language to utilize the search functions. Searches can be made by year to circumvent this. Unfortunately, there also is no way to browse the images without using the search tool.

Blackout History Project

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:19.

URL:

http://blackout.gmu.edu

Author:

Center for New Media History

Excerpt:

In early November of 1965, at the height of the cold war, 30 million people living in the most densely populated region of the United States experienced a cascading power failure which blacked out almost the entire Northeast in less than fifteen minutes. Rising to the occasion, New Yorkers assisted each other in a spirit of cooperation and community uncharacteristic of ordinary city life. Twelve years later, in the summer of 1977, the New York metropolitan region experienced another massive power outage, but this time the popular response was quite different. Devastating riots and looting engulfed the poorer sections of the city, inflicting enormous economic damage at a time when New York City was already on its knees.

Annotation:

This comprehensive site focuses on the history of the 1965 blackout in the Northeastern United States and the 1977 blackout in New York City. These two landmark events in the history of technology and the cultural history of America are recounted in a number of ways: through interviews, excerpts from various media, a timeline of events, recent historical writing, and, most compellingly, a growing database of first-hand recollections entered by visitors to the site. These recollections cover both the behind-the-scenes experiences of those who worked for the utility companies and the people who lived through the events. The site is therefore an excellent example of how to create an oral history archive on the Web, as well as a good source for understanding the tremendous social, cultural and technological impact the blackouts had on the people who lived through them.

MouseSite

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:19.

URL:

http://sloan.stanford.edu/MouseSite

Excerpt:

WELCOME to the MouseSite, a resource for exploring the history of human computer interaction beginning with the pioneering work of Douglas Engelbart and his colleagues at Stanford Research Institute in the 1960s.
As a graduate student in electrical engineering at UC Berkeley after World War II Doug Engelbart began to imagine ways in which all sorts of information could be displayed on the screens of cathode ray tubes like the ones he had used as a radar technician during the war, and he dreamed of "flying" through a variety of information spaces.

Annotation:

This wide-ranging site explores the history of many of the technologies that form the basis of modern personal computing. Many of these advances came from the pioneering work of Douglas C. Englebart and his colleagues at the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in Menlo Park, California in the 1960s. Using primary sources from Englebart and others this site recounts the story of an innovative decade. The computer mouse, the notion of "windows" and the graphical interface associated with them.

Forest History Society

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:19.

URL:

http://www.lib.duke.edu/forest/

Author:

Forest History Society - Duke University

Excerpt:

The Forest History Society links the past to the future by identifying, collecting, preserving, interpreting, and disseminating information on the history of interactions between people, forests, and their related resources - timber, water, soil, forage, fish and wildlife, recreation, and scenic or spiritual values. The focus is from a North American perspective within a global context. Established in 1946 and incorporated as a nonprofit educational institution in 1955, the Forest History Society has grown steadily in response to increasing public concern about our forest heritage. It is affiliated with Duke University

Annotation:

The Forest History Society site can be used to begin research on the history of forestry in the United State and abroad. The site contains a history of the U.S. Forest Service, including photographs, bios, and descriptions of ranger experiences. The site also provides an online, annotated guide to the Forest History Society's archival collections and a description of materials available at the Society's library. There are links to current websites for the organizations with materials in the collection, and a search tool for finding collections at other institutions. Curriculums for school children, a sample of the Society's journal, Environmental History, and descriptions of the organization's current activities are also available. The site is basic, easily navigated, and well maintained.

Albrecht Von Haller

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:19.

URL:

http://www.haller.unibe.ch/

Author:

Albrecht Von Haller

Excerpt:

ALBRECHT VON HALLER (1708-1777)

Annotation:

Contains an account of the life and work of Albrecht Von Haller, with bibliography. Site is entirely in German.

University of Bologna - Department of Astronomy Archives

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:19.

URL:

http://www.bo.astro.it/dip/Library/archives.html

Author:

University of Bologna

Excerpt:

Close to the library are the archives, a small collection of letters, meteorological and astronomical observations, papers and drawings related to the scientific and administrative life of the Bologna Observatory. The earliest documents date back to 1696, when a group of astronomers, lead by Eustachio Manfredi, planned the creation of an astronomical institute and the building of the tower. A reorganization of the archives is in progress, in order to give electronic access to documents, but saving the original structure of the archives itself.

Annotation:

Listing of the holdings of the Department of Astronomy Archives at the University of Bologna. Site in English, but listings are in Italian.

Historical Center for the Health Sciences

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:19.

URL:

http://www.med.umich.edu/medschool/chm/

Author:

University of Michigan

Excerpt:

The Center for the History of Medicine was founded in 1990 and is a unit of the University of Michigan Medical School. The Center’s mission is to conduct original research on the history of medicine; promote dialogue on issues related to health and society in university, medical, and lay communities; and to preserve and make accessible materials related to the history of medicine, biomedical research, public health, nursing, and medical and hospital administration.

Annotation:

The website for the University of Michigan's Center for the History of Medicine contains several areas of potential interest to researchers. An exhibit on polio contains a narrative about the disease and Dr. Thomas Francis' work against it, as well as many photographs and a bibliography. A listing of the university's historical medical films is available. There is also an interactive timeline regarding the history of the UM Medical School, and several links to related sites.

College of Physicians of Philadelphia

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:19.

URL:

http://www.collphyphil.org/

Author:

The College of Physicians of Philadelphia

Excerpt:

The College is a not-for-profit educational and cultural institution dedicated to examining the medical sciences and their place in society in order to enhance the understanding of medicine and the roles of physicians in history and in contemporary life.

Annotation:

Website maintained by The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, an organization began in 1787 to provide education about and improve public health. Contains general information about the College Gallery and the Mutter Museum. Several former exhibits are reproduced online, such as "Emerging Infectious Diseases: Ancient Scourge and Modern Menace" and "When the Patient is the President." A database cataloging their historical OB-GYN instrument collection makes available images and descriptions of over 1,200 tools. The College's library catalog is also online. A link to Philadelphia-related health information is provided as well.

East Asian History of Science Library

Submitted by Anonymous on Thu, 11/08/2007 - 20:19.

URL:

http://www.nri.org.uk/

Author:

Needham Research Institute

Excerpt:

The Needham Research Institute is the home of the Science and Civilisation in China Project, and houses the East Asian History of Science Library. As a recognised global centre of study, the NRI offers a unique collection of books and other published materials on the history of science, technology and medicine in East Asia, and welcomes scholars from all over the world.

Annotation:

Online presence for the Institute which collects scientific, medical, and technological material related to East Asia. The site contains links to the library catalog as well as a catalog of the archive Dr. Joseph Needham's documents located at the Cambridge University Library.