Chronology of SSP

1957

World

Soviet Union launches Sputnik.

Information Technology

FORTRAN, first high-level programming language, completed.

Information Community

Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik spurred the realization that the efficient and effective transfer of scientific and technical information was vital to the national welfare.

Professional Communication Society (PCS) of IEEE formed.

1969

World

Apollo Moon Landing, July 16, 1969

Woodstock!

Information Technology

Steven Jobs and Bill Gates turn 14.

ARPAnet, the predecessor to today's Internet, connects four research centers in the Western U.S.

Information Community

The term 'information explosion' dominates journal publishing discussions as the concern over the exponential growth rate of scientific and technical literature creates a crisis atmosphere.

Various National Science Foundation reports are published focusing on the need to develop standards and guidelines for publishing scientific and technical information.

1973

World

Skylab launched.

Watergate hearings.

Information Technology

First public demonstration of the Internet by Vinton Cerf and Bob Kahn.

Barcodes introduced in supermarkets.

Information Community

Jim Lufkin chairs first PCS Conference on the Future of Scientific and Technical Journals and founds Association for Scientific Journals (ASJ). The burning question discussed at the meeting: Will the journal survive?

1974

World

First commercial communications satellites launched.

Nixon resigns.

Information Technology

Altair, first desktop computer, developed.

Information Community

Exponential growth rate of scientific and technical papers creates one- to two-year backlog. Publishers start new journals; many 'flagship' journals spawn multiple subfield journals.

NSF funds the Innovation Guide Project to gather and disseminate information on innovative printing and publishing practices for the S&T technical community. The Guide's Boards and staff include many SSP founders.

1975

World

Apollo/Soyuz dock in space.

Information Technology

Bill Gates and Paul Allen found Microsoft.

Information Community

Jim Lufkin chairs second ASJ Conference in Cherry Hill, NJ.

1977

World

Anwar Sadat visits Israel; Carter & Begin propose Mideast peace settlement.

Elvis Presley dies at 42.

Information Technology

Tandy Corporation introduces first 'personal computer.'

Information Community

Publishers begin to struggle with how to present multiple journals that make economic sense and that present an identifiable body of literature to the scholarly market.

SSP

Jim Lufkin chairs third ASJ Conference in Reston, VA. ASJ workshop discusses methods to continue dialogue among scholarly publishers. John Strawhorn, Fred Spilhaus, and Judy Holoviak draw up a prospectus for a scholarly publishing society.

1978

World

P.W. Botha becomes Prime Minister of South Africa.

John Paul II becomes first non-Italian Pope since 1523.

Information Technology

Compact disks demonstrated in West Germany.

Information Community

Final version of Innovation Guide is published.

SSP

SSP Founded June 16, 1978 A small group-- Mark Carroll, Robert Day, Anita DeVivo, Elizabeth Fake, Brigitte Huybrechts, Barbara Meyers, Fred Spilhaus, John Strawhorn, and Seldon Terrant-- convenes in Washington DC home of Anita DeVivo. It was moved, seconded, and unanimously carried that there be established by those present a Society for Scholarly Publishing. Bob Day was the first to pay dues. Group appoints Woody Gannet (absent) to chair first meeting.

1979

World

The Shah of Iran deposed; Ayatollah Khomeini returns to Iran.

Accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania releases radiation.

Information Technology

64k chip introduced for personal computers.

Information Community

American Express offers $830 million for McGraw-Hill.

SSP

First SSP meeting held in Boston in June 1979.

Jim Lufkin is named the 'Godfather' of SSP and a member for life.