Our Mission
Mission
The mission of IT History Society, Inc. is to strengthen the historical record of information technology by supporting research, curation, and public engagement that helps society understand how computing was created, how it spread, and how it continues to shape the world.
In the AI era, the Society is entering a new phase of participation and renewed stewardship. Our precise mission language and program priorities are being refined, and we intend to publish updates as the Board and members shape the next era of the organization.
A central theme of this work is to look for gaps in the story of IT. We want to help identify overlooked people, under-documented projects, and forgotten connections between ideas, teams, institutions, and technologies, and to make those contributions easier to discover and understand.
What We Support and Encourage
- Historical research and writing
- Scholarship, essays, and well sourced narratives that clarify what happened and why it mattered
- Biographical research and verification, including dates, roles, and primary sources
- Archival stewardship and curation
- Archival acquisition, processing, preservation guidance, and responsible use of primary materials
- Intentional curation of reference resources, including the Society’s own datasets and collections
- Public engagement and community participation
- Conversations, interviews, and curated discussions with pioneers and domain experts
- Member interaction and collaboration through online communities and live events
- Published episodic content such as newsletters and short-form updates through modern channels
- Educational and cultural work
- Lectures, workshops, conferences, and courses
- Exhibits, museums, web projects, and other public-facing presentations of IT history
- Creative works that responsibly incorporate IT history as a theme, including films, plays, or novels
- Collaboration and coordination
- Partnerships with museums, archives, academic programs, and other organizations active in IT history
- Efforts that reduce duplication by connecting people to existing collections and work already underway
Scope
IT history includes the creation of computing and the underlying science, its use, its impact on people and institutions, and the technologies and organizations involved. Earlier formulations of the Society’s work used a year 2000 boundary; in practice, the appropriate scope and emphasis remain open questions, especially as computing expands into networks, software ecosystems, and everyday objects. The Society’s current direction is to prioritize historical significance and clarity over unlimited accumulation.
