Access to the collection is unrestricted.
All material in the collection is covered by a prior copyright. Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provisions of the copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).
The papers were given to the Charles Babbage Institute by Michael M. Gorman in September 2001.
American National Standards Institute, X3H2 Records (CBI 168), Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.
Meeting minutes are arranged chronologically, with the “Papers” for each year filed after the meeting minutes for that year. “Papers” are arranged therein by meeting number and document number (1978-1982) or document number (1983-1995). “Base Documents” are filed separately and arranged chronologically.
CBI 11, Conference on Data Systems Languages Records (CODASYL), 1959-1987
The American National Standards Institute (ANSI) X3H2 Committee, responsible for standards for the syntax and semantics of database languages, held its first meeting in May 1978. The H2 committee was originally charged with creating a standard for the CODASYL (Conference on Data Systems Languages) Data Description Language Committee’s network data model, based on the CODASYL 1978 JOD. The resulting NDL (network database language) standard was finished in 1982. The committee began work on standardizing the relational data model through the IBM donated language SEQUEL in 1982, which resulted in the SQL (structured query language) standard in 1984. Both became American National Standards in 1986. Work continued on the SQL standard, resulting in SQL89, SQL92, and SQL99.
The H2 committee was made up of representatives from industry, professional and technical societies, and government, and sponsored by the trade organization Computer and Business Equipment Manufacturers Association (CBEMA, renamed the Information Technology Industry Council in 1994). Michael M. Gorman served as secretary to the committee from its first meeting.
The H2 committee was known as X3H2 until 1996, when the Accredited Standards Committee X3 changed its name to NCITS (National Committee for Information Technology Standards). In 2001, NCITS became INCITS (International Committee for Information Technology) and the H2 committee was known as the ANSI INCITS H2 Technical Committee on Database.
The ANSI X3H2 Records consist entirely of materials accumulated by Michael M. Gorman in his role as secretary to the committee, beginning with the first meeting in May 1978. The collection, which documents the H2 committee’s development of the NDL and SQL standards, includes three interrelated sets of documents: “Base Documents,” “Papers,” and meeting minutes.
“Base Documents” reflect the working status of a prospective standard as of a given date. The H2 committee maintained “Base Documents” for each standard under development.
“Papers” consist of the documents distributed to committee members at each meeting, including proposals to modify the prospective standard, called “Change Proposals,” and other documents regarding development of the standard submitted to the committee for their consideration, called “Working Papers.” “Papers” also include correspondence, meeting minutes of other ANSI committees, procedural memos, and other administrative documents.
Meeting minutes begin with the H2 committee’s first meeting on May 23, 1978, designated meeting zero, and continue through meeting 50, held on December 11-14, 1995. The minutes for each meeting include a list of the “Papers” distributed to committee members at that meeting. All “Papers” were assigned a three-part identifier, which through 1982 included the committee designation, the meeting number, and a document number (e.g. X3H2 – 10 – 1), with the exception of the “Papers” for meeting zero, which do not include a meeting number (e.g. X3H2 – 1). Document numbers restarted for each meeting. Identifiers for the “Papers” for meetings from 1983-1995 included a two-digit year designation (e.g. X3H2 – 92 – 1) instead of a meeting number, and document numbers restarted for each year, instead of for each meeting.
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the catalog of the University of Minnesota Libraries. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons or places should search the catalog using these headings.
The following section contains a detailed listing of the materials in the collection.