Data and Information
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The international impact of computers
Just one year ago, I had the pleasure of surveying over 40 laboratories, factories and universities throughout Western Europe that were actively engaged in the computer field. Since then, many visitors from Europe have visited me and updated my information on the status of developments abroad.
Dynamic storage allocation for an information retrieval system
This paper presents an information retrieval problem whose programming solution included dynamic storage allocation. Allocatable machine code is defined, and an assembly program to produce allocatable machine code is described. The work reported on was done as part of Project ACSI-MATIC1 which is concerned with the application of computer techniques to the activities of certain headquarters military intelligence operations of the U.S. Army [1, 2].
The suggestions in this paper are part of the terminology used in work for the University of Pennsylvania's Office of Computer Research and Education. The work is jointly supported by the National Science Foundation* and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research.†
Operational compatability of systems—conventions
This project is engaged in (a) a program of research into the application of the concepts and techniques of modern data processing to the design of mechanical parts, and (b) the further development of automatic programming systems for numerically controlled machine tools. The project is a cooperative venture between the Computer Applications Group of the Electronic Systems Laboratory and the Design and Graphics Division of the Mechanical Engineering Department, and is sponsored by the Manufacturing Methods Division of the USAF Air Material Command through Contract AF-33(600)-40604.
Logic tables are an excellent way of developing and expressing the logic required in procedures, operations, systems and circuits. A set of rules for writing and using logic tables is explained by means of some simple examples. Then the logic structure of a vending machine is given in which two logic tables are used. Logic tables are two-dimensional in nature, enabling us to fully express and consider both the sequential and parallel aspects of logic. They can be compiled directly into a computer program and so eliminate the need for flow charting and hand coding.
The state of digital computer technology in Europe
This report indicates the level of computer development and application in each of the thirty countries of Europe, most of which were recently visited by the author
Design of an improved transmission/data processing code
Historically there has been strong difference of opinion in the construction of 6-bit (64-character) data codes, based upon whether the code is to be used for communications or data processing. This paper reports on investigation of an improved code which meets transmission requirements and requires very little modification for varied data processing usage.
Automatic abstracting and indexing—survey and recommendations
In preparation for the widespread use of automatic scanners which will read documents and transmit their contents to other machines for analysis, this report presents a new concept in automatic analysis: the relative-frequency approach to measuring the significance of words, word groups, and sentences. The relative-frequency approach is discussed in detail, as is its application to problems of automatic indexing and automatic abstracting. Included in the report is a summary of automatic analysis studies published as of the date of writing. Conclusions are drawn that point toward more sophisticated mathematical and linguistic techniques for the solution of problems of automatic analysis.
Recent contributions on the subject of counting the ones or reversing the digits of a binary word have prompted some rather more general observations on bitwise operations which treat each binary digit in a computer word as a separate entity.
On finding minimum routes in a network with turn penalties
In some highway engineering work it is necessary to find a route between two points in a city's street and freeway network such that a function of time and distance is minimized. Such a route is called a “best” route, and finding such a route is not a difficult task. The Moore Algorithm1 accomplishes this quite nicely, and using that algorithm and a procedure developed by Hoffman and Pavley2 (programmed by them for the IBM 650) it is even possible to find the “Nth best path.”
A card format for reference files in information processing
This paper proposes a card format suitable for a variety of reference files in information processing. An 80-column IBM card is divided into two fields—reference material field (columns 1-67) and identification field (columns 68-80). The format for the reference material is flexible, while the format for the identification is rigid. The reference material includes basically an index, title, source, class, summary and cross reference for each entry. The identification includes basically codes for a matrix of descriptors, an entry number, and the kind, major interest, and source of the reference. The identification also provides a choice to identify material for personal as well as general files. Since this card format is sufficient to identify the material normally associated with reference files for books, articles, programming terms, hardware terms, equipment, machine systems, abbreviations, etc., it is suitable as a standard for card reference files in information processing.
Statistical programs at the University of North Carolina
The Research Computation Center at the University of North Carolina has access to a UNIVAC 1105 general purpose digital computer for use in connection with data processing problems, theoretical studies, and computer research. With respect to data processing problems, three major statistical programs have been written:
General Contingency Table Analysis for Questionnaire Data
Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)
Multiple Regression and Correlation
Some of the concepts and ideas in these programs are new and may be of interest to other computation centers. Hence they are described below. The programs were written in the Remington Rand UNICODE language. Thus it would not be difficult to translate them into any other algebraic language, such as ALGOL, FORTRAN, or IT.
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