Talk:Revision to Special Citation Guidelines

-- Juancarlos (talk) 05:39, 31 October 2016 (CDT)

I do not agree with including the list of "designated fields" in the definition of the Special Citation. and I strongly disagree with many of the last ones listed.

In my opinion it is much better to explicitly include the word "History" in order to clearly differentiate it from a Milestone, e.g. :

Option A: IEEE SPECIAL CITATION IN HISTORY

Option B: IEEE SPECIAL CITATION IN THE PRESERVATION OF THE HISTORY OF ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND COMPUTING

Amendment to the proposed definition of Special Citation -- Apyuste (talk) 09:05, 8 December 2016 (UTC)

I consider much better to clearly separate Special Citations and Milestones. For the sake of simplicity, it is important to show that Special Citation is not a kind of “minor Milestone”. I could agree about using the same form for application, as a pure administrative issue, but both two “awards” should be considered in different sections and in a totally different manner. In order to develop this idea, I propose the next amendment to the definition of Special Citations:

The IEEE Special Citation in Electrical Engineering and Computing is intended to recognize museums, libraries, archives, or other historic sites engaged in the preservation of technical history for their achievement in preserving the history of significant technical achievements in all areas associated with IEEE and in making that history available to scholars, researchers, and the public in a way that is of at least regional importance. The designated fields are: Engineering, Computer Sciences and Information Technology, Physical Sciences, Biological and Medical Sciences, Mathematics, Technical Communications, Education, Management, and Law and Policy.

The IEEE Special Citation in Electrical Engineering and Computing use the same submission form than that corresponding to the IEEE Milestones Program. The proposal is reviewed by an advocate and acted upon by the IEEE History Committee and IEEE Board of Directors according to the same process as a Milestone proposal.

In order to be proposed for an IEEE Special Citation in Electrical Engineering and Computing, a museum, archive, or other historic site must have been open to the public for twenty-five years or more.

The difference between a Milestone proposal and a Special Citation proposal is that a Milestone proposal recognizes a particular technical achievement; a Special Citation recognizes work that has been done preserving history. A site which has been proposed or approved as a Milestone may not receive a Special Citation. Special Citations do not recognize individual persons, nor do they recognize a university course of study or a department. Special Citations may recognize achievements in preserving technological history by engineering and technical associations.

In proposing a special citation, some elements to consider in the supporting material are: How long has the museum/archives/historical site been open? How many visitors does it receive in a year? What special artifacts, papers, or other scholarly resources does it contain, and how are these displayed to the public and/or made available to researchers. Have materials in the collection been cited in books or articles?

When proposing a special citation, please include the words “Special Citation” in the title of your proposal, e.g. “Museum of History of Electronics, Special Citation.” Similar to Milestones, a year or year range must be given in the title of the citation. (The title of the citation is different from the title of the proposal.) The year should be the year of the opening of the institution to the public.

The plaque will read: IEEE SPECIAL CITATION IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND COMPUTING

Here is an example of a citation plaque text approved by the IEEE:

IEEE SPECIAL CITATION IN ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING AND COMPUTING

Computer History Museum, 1979

The Computer History Museum's mission is to preserve and present for posterity the artifacts and stories of the Information Age. The museum houses the world's largest collection of computers and related software, documents, and visual media. Public exhibits celebrate the rich history of computing, aided by a speaker series, education activities, historical restorations, and research programs.