ACM’s;Annual;Report;for;FY10
ACM, the Association for Computing
Machinery, is an international scientific
and educational organization dedicated
to advancing the arts, sciences, and applications of information technology.
Publications
The centerpiece of the ACM Publication portfolio is the ACM Digital Library. During the past year, 21,000
full-text articles were added to the DL,
bringing total holdings to 281,000
articles. ACM’s Guide to Computing
Literature is an integral part of the
DL, providing an increasingly comprehensive index to the literature of
computing. More than 230,000 works
were added to the bibliographic database in FY10, bringing the total Guide
coverage to over 1. 52 million works.
Significant enhancements were
made to the Digital Library and Guide
this year, including a major reorganization of the core citation pages and
to ACM bibliometrics. Along with content reformation, there is now greater
ease of navigation and a greater selection of tools and resources.
ACM currently publishes 40 journals and Transactions, 10 magazines,
and 23 newsletters. In addition, it
provides primary online distribution
for 10 periodicals through the Digital Library. During FY10, ACM added
364 conference and related workshop
proceedings to the DL, including 45
in ACM’s International Conference Proceedings Series.
Two ACM magazines were relaunched during FY10. Crossroads, the
ACM student magazine became XRDS,
with a more expansive editorial scope
and a more modern look to appeal to
the student audience. ACM Inroads
was transformed from the SIGCSE
Bulletin newsletter to an ACM magazine with a wider variety of content for
computer science educators.
Periodicals that were approved by
the Publications Board and are now
on the launching pad for FY11: ACM
Transactions on Management Information Systems; ACM Transactions on
Intelligent Systems and Technology;
and ACM Transactions on Interactive
Intelligent Systems.
education
ACM continues to work with multiple
organizations on important issues
related to the image of computing
and the health of the discipline and
profession. In the second year of an
NSF grant to develop a more relevant
image for computing, ACM worked
in tandem with WGBH-Boston in the
creation of a new messaging campaign called “Dot Diva.” The campaign, which rolled out in the U.S. last
month, is focused on ways to engage
young girls with the potential of computing.
ACM and the Association for Information Systems (AIS) jointly developed new curriculum guidelines
for undergraduate degree programs
in information systems that for the
first time include both core and elective courses suited to specific career
tracks. Released in May, IS 2010 is
aimed at educating graduates who
are prepared to enter the work force
equipped with IS-specific as well as
foundational knowledge and skills.
The report describes the seven core
courses that must be covered in every
IS program and the curriculum can be
adapted for schools of business, public administration, and information
science or informatics.
ACM’s Computer Science Teachers Association (CSTA) continues to
support and promote the teaching of
computer science at the K– 12 level as
well as providing opportunities and
resources for teachers and students to
improve their understanding of computing disciplines. CSTA’s mission is
to ensure computer science emerges
as a viable discipline in high schools
and middle schools; it is a key partner
in ACM’s effort to see real computer
science count at the high school level.
Professional Development
The Professional Development Com-
mittee spearheaded the development
of a new product for practitioners and
managers this year called Tech Packs.
These integrated learning packages
were created to provide a resource
for emerging areas of computing de-
signed around an annotated bibli-
ography of resources selected from
ACM’s Digital Library, ACM’s online
book and course offerings, and non-
ACM resources created by experts’
recommendations on current com-
puting topics. A Tech Pack comprises
a set of fundamentally important ar-
ticles on a subject with new material
to provide a context and perspective
on the theme. The goal is that com-
munities might be built around Tech
Packs with members commenting on
selected resources and suggesting
new ones.
Public Policy
Members of the U.S. Public Policy
Council of ACM (USACM) had an active year interacting with policymakers in areas of e-voting, privacy, and
security, as well as testifying before
Congressional committees and helping develop principles for increasing
the usability of government information online. Among the issues tackled
this year, USACM joined a task force
for the Future of American Innovation urging more funding for basic
research and STEM education. Members also expressed concerns with the
Cybersecurity Act of 2009, provided
constructive comments on a draft of
the Internet Privacy bill, and issued
a response to e-voting legislation and
Internet voting as it relates to military
