On SD history and the uses of the Server

[lino@ian.ge.cnr.it (Nicola Bianc]

Writing from a distance, I take the liberty to submit a few remarks
on the SD mailing-list and the server, as well as to launch a query
for help.
I will start with the query. I have been following the SD activities
developed at an international level for some fifteen years now. I am
not an historian by trade, but, having worked for a long time within
a Center for the History of Technology (which is part of our National
Council for Research), I am considering the possibility to combine my
interest in the SD and that in history and write a history of SD.
Unfortunately, the materials which I have been collecting more or
less systematically so far are badly wanting in several respects.
I think that the minutes of the Board meetings of the Society
and the record (if any is available, either on paper, or on tape, or
in other forms) of the round tables and discussions held during the
SD Conferences would be extremely helpful to my work. To give you
but a few examples, I am eager to get some track of the discussion
which took place in Chestnut Hill (1983) on "Enlarging the Paradigm",
or the exchange between Forrester and Prigogine (Brussels, 1982), or
the reactions to the critique put forward by Mihram again in Chestnut
Hill 1983 (parallel section papers, vol. I, pag. 377). Should anybody
be as kind as to give me any suggestions on how to get such
materials, that would do me an invaluable favor. Also, is there
anyone of the parties directly involved in those discussions and
exchanges who may provide me with such materials? Again, I do thank
you all in advance for the attention you will kindly pay to this
query.
Turning to the mailing list and the Internet server, let me
congratulate on this initiative. It is indeed a great achievement, as
it will make it easier to communicate; which, in turn, may result
into an enlargement of the SD community all over the world. But, if
I understand correctly Dr. Eberleins description of the Server
project, there is still the problem that neither an archive of the
Working-Papers of the MIT SD-Group and other institutions, nor a
bibliographical data base are scheduled. Furthermore, it seems to me
that it would be extremely useful to provide for the uploading of the
Conferences Proceedings, even if starting just with the next one
(the box containing the 1994 Stirling Proceedings was most useful as
a reference tool during the Conference, even though, to be sure, it
was very heavy and, what is more, all but easy to handle for further
use). I am perfectly aware that there may arise copyrights problems
and that to transfer the articles on a magnetic storage is a far from
easy job. But I deem it an inescapable task for a scientific
association to try to overcome such obstacles. Should the majority of
the members work in this direction, the task would turn out to be all
the more simple. I for one will try to do my best with regard to both
the above mentioned historical aspects and other features (revision
of the bibliographical materials and development of some software
tool).
Talking about software, in Dr. Eberleins most accurate notes
regarding the server, four different packages are mentioned. This
means that the communication standard is being lost (even though
luckily enough we are not in a Babel-like situation yet). Since
models are being built, among other things, in order to communicate
(and as fast as possible), it will be needed to provide for tools for
translation. In my opinion the software is no marginal problem and it
is necessary to discuss the need to retain some kind of common
language. And, if I got it right, this is a discussion list.
Thank you.

Nicola BIANCHI
CNR - Centro Storia Tecnica
Genova, Italy