American Federation of Information Processing Societies facts for kids
The American Federation of Information Processing Societies (AFIPS) was a group of professional clubs that worked together. It started on May 10, 1961, and closed down in 1990. Its main goal was to help people learn more about information science (which is about how computers process information). AFIPS also spoke for its member clubs at big meetings around the world.
How AFIPS Started
AFIPS grew from an older group called the National Joint Computer Committee (NJCC). This group began in 1951. NJCC held two big computer meetings each year: the Eastern (EJCC) and Western Joint Computer Conferences (WJCC).
The three main groups that started AFIPS were:
- The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
- The American Institute of Electrical Engineers (AIEE)
- The Institute of Radio Engineers (IRE)
AFIPS represented these groups at the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP). IFIP was formed a year earlier with help from UNESCO, a part of the United Nations that promotes education and science.
Big Computer Meetings
In 1962, AFIPS took over the EJCC and WJCC meetings. They changed their names to the Spring (SJCC) and Fall Joint Computer Conferences (FJCC).
In 1973, these two meetings joined together to become the National Computer Conference (NCC). The NCC happened every year until 1987.
AFIPS also supported smaller meetings, like the Office Automation Conference. They published a magazine called the Annals of the History of Computing and other materials. Each year, they gave out an award called the Harry Goode Memorial Award. This award honored people who did amazing things in information processing.
What Happened Next
AFIPS closed down in 1990. After that, the IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS) took over the Goode Award. They also started publishing the Annals magazine, which was renamed the IEEE Annals of the History of Computing.
In 1991, the IEEE-CS joined with the ACM to create a new group called the Federation on Computing in the United States (FOCUS). FOCUS took AFIPS's place as the United States' representative in IFIP. Later, in 1999, IFIP allowed both IEEE-CS and ACM to be separate members. Because of this, FOCUS was no longer needed and closed down.
How AFIPS Was Organized
AFIPS was run by a group of leaders called the board of directors. At first, this group was called the "Governing Board." Each member club had one to three directors on the board. The number of directors depended on how big the club was. Other groups that were connected to AFIPS had one director each.
Under this main board, there were different smaller groups called committees. These included:
- The executive committee (for main decisions)
- The education committee (for learning and teaching)
- The finance committee (for money matters)
- The awards committee (for giving out honors)
The big computer meetings were managed by a special conference board. This board decided the main plans and rules for the meetings. It also made sure that other groups, like the Conference Steering Committee, worked together. The meetings featured special talks about technology and exhibits where companies showed off new computer products.
