Archives Center, National Museum of American History

SHARE Numerical Analysis Project Records

Summary

Collection ID:
NMAH.AC.0498
Creators:
SHARE (Association)
Dietz, C. P.
Dates:
1964-1970
Languages:
English
.
Physical Description:
5 Cubic feet
14 boxes
Repository:

Scope and Contents

Scope and Contents
Correspondence, abstracts and reports of computer programs, punch cards, Numerical Analysis project reviews, meeting notes, and research papers.

Arrangement

Arrangement
The collection is dividedinto four series.
Series 1: Correspondence, 1964-1970
Series 2: SHARE General Program Library, 1964-1967
Series 3: Numerical Analysis Project, 1964-1970
Series 4: Research Papers, 1968-1969

Biographical / Historical

Biographical / Historical
SHARE (Society to Help Avoid Redundant Effort) was formed in 1955, when users of International Business Machines (IBM) 701 computers in Los Angeles were anticipating the delivery of the IBM 704 computer. At this time, IBM relied on its computer customers to program the machines they purchased. "The only software that came with the hardware were copies of the user's manual, a crude assembler, a loader (non-linking), and a few utility routines" (Armer, 122). Both the manufacturer and the customers needed a library of mathematical programs, called subroutines, for the computers to perform their intended tasks. To produce them individually was prohibitively expensive; the cost of developing a system to use a machine, "and a set of routines to go with that system, was usually in excess of a year's rental for the equipment" (Armer, 124). SHARE's organizers felt that this could be accomplished most efficiently through cooperation among IBM users.
The primary purpose of SHARE, according to a 1968 SHARE conference program, was "to promote the free interchange of information for advancing the effectiveness of use of [IBM System/360 or IBM 7000-series computers]. A further aim is to reduce redundant effort among system users in the preparation of computer programs for general use." SHARE sought to standardize machine language and certain machine practices, eliminate redundant effort connected with computers, promote inter-installation communication, and develop effective communication between users and the manufacturer. By mid-1956, forty-seven "installations" or organizations with an IBM computer were SHARE members, and 300 machine-checked 704 programs were placed in an IBM ¬maintained library for member use (Bashe, 349). SHARE members later wrote and evaluated programs for the IBM System/360 machines, a product line announced in 1964.
SHARE groups called "projects" organized, evaluated, and transmitted the information; all participation was on a voluntary basis. SHARE held two general meetings a year, at which all active projects held one or more meetings. The expansion from a focus on program creation to evaluation represented a more mature phase for the organization.
The Numerical Analysis Project was one of those groups. During the SHARE general meeting in March 1964, members participating in the Numerical Analysis Project of the SHARE applications division decided to organize and carry out an extensive project to evaluate numerical-mathematical type SHARE programs, which had to be highly accurate in order not to waste expensive computer time. Programs were selected from the SHARE-3000 series, the SSP (Scientific Subroutine Package), and the CPL (Contributed Program Library). The¬ co-chairmen of the evaluation committee assigned review tasks to participating members, who could accept or refuse assignments. Their review time was to be three to four months, and authors mailed their reviews to the co-chair. The chair of the Numerical Analysis Project's Program Evaluation Committee from 1965 to 1968 was Hirondo Kuki at the University of Chicago's Computing Center. After he resigned the chairmanship in 1968, Robert E. Funderlic and Joseph S. Crowell of the Union Carbide Corporation, Nuclear Division, became co-chairs; Funderlic resigned from his position later that year.
Each program was reviewed twice. Programs were evaluated extensively for reliability and accuracy, as well as timing, size, features, design, and documentation provided by the program's author. Reviewers submitted written reviews with documentation of their testing and review process.
SHARE was the first computer user group in the United States, and became a model for a number of other user groups, including GUIDE (formed in 1956) and USE (formed in 1955). Before groups like SHARE, most programmers did very little sharing of programs of general applicability. The idiosyncratic manner of machines accounted for this in part. Inoperability was a factor as well; a program written for one machine would require tedious re-coding to operate on another (Bashe, 348).
Although computer technology has changed considerably since its inception, SHARE still exists (www.share.org), and has offices in downtown Chicago. It has a full-time staff and more than 2,000 member companies that include international corporations, representative government agencies and educational institutions.
References
Armer, Paul. "SHARE--A Eulogy to Cooperative Effort." Annals in the History of Computing 2, no. 2 (April 1980): 122-129.
Charles Babbage Institute. "SHARE Marks 40th Anniversary." Charles Babbage Institute Newsletter 17, no. 3.
Bashe, Charles J., Lyle R. Johnson, John H. Palmer, and Emerson W. Pugh. IBM's Early Computers. (MIT Press Series in the History of Computing.) Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press, 1986.

Administration

Author
Jodi L. Bunnell and Atsushi Akera
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Collection donated by University of North Dakota Computing Center, through C. P. Dietz,1972.
Ownership and Custodial History
Records sent to museum 1972 by C. P. Dietz, who received them from Oliver K. Smith of TRW. The records were transferred to the Archives Center Sept. 1993 from the Division of Computers, Information, and Society.
Processing Information
Collection processed by Jodi L. Bunnell and Atsushi Akera, 1995

Using the Collection

Preferred Citation
SHARE Numerical Analysis Project Records, 1964-1970, Archives Center, National Museum of American History.
Terms Governing Use and Reproduction
Collection items available for reproduction, but the Archives Center makes no guarantees concerning copyright restrictions. Other intellectual property rights may apply. Archives Center cost-recovery and use fees may apply when requesting reproductions.
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.

Keywords

Keywords table of terms and types.
Keyword Terms Keyword Types
Computers -- 1960-1970 Topical Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Correspondence -- 1930-1950 Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Punched cards Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
Reports Genre Form Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid
National Museum of American History (U.S.). Division of Computers, Information and Society Corporate Name Search Smithsonian Collections Search ArchiveGrid

Archives Center, National Museum of American History
P.O. Box 37012
Suite 1100, MRC 601
Washington, D.C. 20013-7012
archivescenter@si.edu