NCSU Libraries Focus Online
Volume 25 number 3 - Spring 2005
NCSU Libraries Establishes New Simulation Archive
By Lois Fischer Black Special Collections Research Center
The NCSU Libraries' Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) is developing
a new collection initiative. In line with its strengths in the history of science
and technology, the SCRC will expand collections in the history of simulation.
This field, which unites aspects of the history of computer science with those
of industrial engineering, dates from the 1940s.
Although the groundwork for establishing the archive was laid in 1998 when
discussions between Special Collections and leaders in the field of simulation
began, it was not until 2003 that the archive's development came to fruition
and the first donations of material were received by the NCSU Libraries. The
donation of three large collections enabled the Libraries to begin work on
the monumental task of documenting the history of a young discipline.
The first three donations were the Robert G. Sargent Collection, the Julian
Reitman Collection, and the Alan Pritsker Collection. Each of these collections
document the origins of the field and enhance strong holdings in the NCSU Libraries'
general collection. In fact, the collection comprising the late Alan Pritzker's
professional library has been integrated into the library's collections to
make it easily accessible to researchers.
Robert G. Sargent is professor emeritus of electrical engineering at Syracuse
University. Julian Reitman is an early pioneer of simulation application and
development who helped to guide the evolution of simulation. Both men have
received the Lifetime Professional Achievement Award from the Institute for
Operations Research and the Management Sciences' (INFORMS) College on Simulation,
and both were kind enough to donate their time as well as their collections
to the SCRC. During visits to NCSU by Sargent and Reitman, SCRC staff members
also conducted oral history interviews that will be transcribed and added to
the archives.
The Robert G. Sargent Collection contains reference materials for systems
dating back to the 1950s, as well as the proceedings of various technical conferences.
He first became involved with discrete-event simulation as a graduate student,
when he developed simulation models. Sargent's pioneering work testing computer
systems for the United States Air Force, as well as his research on verification
and validation of simulation models, has resulted in increased visibility of
the field.
Reitman is regarded as one of the founders of modern simulation. His donation
of professional papers and of his library offers an invaluable research collection
for those studying the history of simulation. Included here are materials relating
to the precursor of the Winter Simulation Conference, the Conference on Applications
of the General Purpose Simulation System, and records documenting Reitman's
forty-year career in modern computer simulation.
The Libraries is soliciting funds to support the archive. A donation from
NCSU Professor of Industrial Engineering James R. Wilson on behalf of the INFORMS
College on Simulation and a contribution from Sargent will enable the SCRC
to hire project staff to catalog components of the simulation archives in the
near future. As Wilson stated, "the Simulation Archive is now beginning
to emerge as a premier source for researchers interested in the history of
the field of simulation." The NCSU Libraries encourages other donors to
expand the archive's collections. In addition, those who would like to support
the cataloging of these resources should call either Jim Mulvey, director of
development, at (919) 515-3339, or Lois Black, assistant head of special collections,
at (919) 515-9059.
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