Operating Plan
Our Plan for 2027
One shared focus: a comprehensive catalog of information technology, looked after by people who know each corner of it, with room for members to add what they know.
This is a living document. The Board and our committees revise it as the year goes on, and it sets the goals our committees work toward.
2026 was a fresh start. We formed seven standing committees, launched our newsletter, began hosting live panels with the people who shaped computing, and rebuilt the categories that organize our catalog. In 2027 we turn that groundwork toward a single aim, set out in the six goals below.
Six goals for 2027
1. A comprehensive catalog
Complete coverage across every branch of our taxonomy, so that no area of hardware, software, or company history is left thin. Much of it will come from reliable index sites and collections across the web, and we will invite their authors to join us as co-curators.
Led by Curation
2. Co-curators with niche expertise
People who know a subject best will look after the part of the catalog that covers it, whether that is a type of hardware or software or a particular company.
3. Member contributions
Members will be able to add what they know, and their contributions will appear alongside the curated records, reviewed by the co-curators for each area.
4. Pages that show the people
We will redesign many of our pages to introduce the co-curators who look after them, and our homepage will feature member contributions and upcoming events.
5. A pipeline built for collaboration
Behind the scenes, we will improve how changes to the site are tested, reviewed, and released, so that data scientists, software authors, and designers can work together, with review suited to code written with the help of AI.
Led by SysOps
6. Citations that never break
Working with the Internet Archive, we will make sure that every link on our website is permanently archived in the Wayback Machine. Our citations will not suffer from link rot, and the sites and pages we reference will be better preserved.
Led by SysOps, with the Internet Archive
Continuing through 2027
- Live panels. We will keep hosting conversations with the people who shaped computing, for members to enjoy and for new people to discover the Society, and turn each one into a lasting record. Events
- Monthly honorees. Each month our newsletter and social media introduce people whose birthdays fall that month, from the early days of computing and from recent history, celebrated and overlooked alike. Honor and Editorial
- Members meeting members. We are looking for more ways for members to talk with one another. We post updates on Bluesky, welcome conversation in our LinkedIn Group, and are building a Discord community that is still in its early days. Every member can always reach a real person. Membership
- Support for the work. We will keep shaping our goals so that the Society's public service is worthy of support, and share that work with the donors and organizations whose missions it serves. Development
How we work
- We point to the work of other institutions, archives, and collectors rather than duplicating it, and we invite the people behind good collections to curate with us.
- Member contributions are all reviewed, to preserve the integrity of our curated record.
- Comprehensive does not mean indiscriminate: our Curation Committee sets the standards for what belongs in the catalog.
- We change the site in small, reviewed steps that serve these goals, not in rebuilds for their own sake.
Help us do it
Every goal on this page is managed by our committees, all of which are welcoming new volunteers! Find a committee, or write to us at [email protected].