Pathfinder: Computer Science

Scope|Subject Headings|Overview Sources|Circulating Books|Periodicals, Journals & Trade Publications|Web Sites

* Also see the library's annotated bibliography on Computer Pioneers.

SCOPE: The purpose of this pathfinder is to serve as a guideline for student research. It is not intended as a comprehensive listing, but as a selective sampling of the many types of resources available in the library. Subjects covered include history of computers, programming languages, operating systems, and web design.

SUBJECT HEADINGS

Books dealing with computer science are listed in the Baddour Library's on-line catalog under the following subject headings:

Computers
Computer software
Operating systems
Web sites Design
Web publishing
Electronic Digital computers

There are sources in the Reference Section of the Baddour Library that give you a general overview or summary of the topic you are researching. The following is a list of some of the sources available in the library.

OVERVIEW SOURCES

REF QA76.15.E48 1993 Encyclopedia of Computer Science
REF QA 76.15.E53 2001 Encyclopedia of Computers and Computer History
REF QA76.15.W67 2002 World of Computer Science

Some representative books from the Circulating Collection that are located upstairs in the library are:

CIRCULATING BOOKS

Boumphrey, Frank. Beginning XHTML. Chicago, ILL: Wrox Press, 2000.

Brinck, Tom. Usability for the Web: Designing Web Sites That Work. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2002.

Ceruzzi, Paul E. A History of Modern Computing. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2000.

Dietrich, Eric. Thinking Computers and Virtual Persons: Essays on the Intentionality of Machines. San Diego, Calif: Academic Press, 1994.

Harvey, Brian. Simply Scheme: Introducing Computer Science. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 1994.

Lynch, Patrick J. Web Style Guide: Basic Design Principles for Creating Web Sites. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2001.

Powazek, Derek M. Design for Community: The Art of Connecting Real People in Virtual Places. Indianapolis, Ind: New Riders, 2002.

Patt, Yale N. Introduction to Computing Systems: From Bits and Gates to C and Beyond. Boston: McGraw-Hill, 2001.

Petzold, Charles. Code: The Hidden Language of Computer Hardware and Software. Redmond, Wash: Microsoft Press, 1999.

Russo, Marco. Fuzzy Learning and Applications. Boca Raton, Fla: CRC Press, 2001.

Scott, Michael Lee. Programming Language Pragmatics. San Francisco: Morgan Kaufmann, 2000.

Silberschatz, Abraham. Applied Operating System Concepts. New York: John Wiley, 2000.

Weinman, Lynda. Creative HTML Design.2. Indianapolis, IN: New Riders Pub; 2001.

Williamson, Heather. Dreamweaver in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference. CA: OReilly, 2002.

Wolf, Wayne Hendrix. Computers as Components: Principles of Embedded Computing System Design. San Francisco, CA: Morgan Kaufmann Publishers, 2001.

Some of the specific periodicals that the library subscribes to that focuses on the topic of computer science are:

PERIODICALS, JOURNALS & TRADE PUBLICATIONS

Click the links for a list of full text journals available through our databases in:

• Computer Science
• Information Technology

Open Access Journals in Computer Science

Open Access Journals in Technology

WEB SITES

ABC's of CGI
http://builder.cnet.com/webbuilding/pages/Programming/CGI/
Part of the extensive C-Net site, this introduction to the most commonly used form of Web programming, CGI (Common Gateway Interface) scripting, done by Matt Rotter, is a very good place for Web page designers to begin learning how to make their sites interactive.  Includes a discussion of what CGI is and when to use it as well as actual scripts for e-mail forms, page counters, guestbooks and cookies.  Note: Perl samples given assume your ISP is UNIX-based.

BlackStump Web Development Page
http://www.blackstump.com.au/webdev.htm
An impressive directory of Web development links here, covering the following topics: Active Server, ActiveX, Advertising, Animated Images, Certificates, CGI-Bin, Click/Image Maps, Clip Art, Colors, Counters, Databases, Design, DOM, Dynamic HTML, E-Commerce, Fonts, Forms, Frames, FrontPage, HTML, Icons/Imaging, Java, JavaScript, Perl, Style Sheets, Transparent Images, Validate Web Page, WAP, Web Page Developing, XHTML, and XML.

Browser Archive
http://browsers.evolt.org
Download archive of more than 80 Web browsers (including past versions).  Intended as a resource for Web developers who need to test their sites against specific browser versions.

CNET Shopper.com
http://shopper.cnet.com
Comprehensive listing of almost any piece of computer hardware and software available, with the current prices at major computer cyberstores.  Searchable and browsable.  Great way to compare prices.

Computer Almanac - Numbers About Computers
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs.cmu.edu/user/bam/www/numbers.html
A collection of numbers relevant to computers and their use, along with references.  Includes statistics on Internet use, injuries, crime, market share of operating systems and companies, and more.

The Computer History Museum History Center
http://www.computerhistory.org
This museum focuses on "post-WWII electronic computing but it also maintains a representative collection of objects from earlier eras."  The history of computing timeline, with photos, covers 1945 to 1990 (choose a year or topic area).  Events include a chart of current and past events, some linked to transcripts and/or media streams.  The artifacts collection database is searchable. 

Computer Science
http://library.albany.edu/subject/csci.htm
This site from the University of Albany provides a clearinghouse of links to information on computer science topics, including: computer science departments, calculators, databases, algorithms, and employment figures. Some links are accessible only to U Albany affiliates; others are available for the public at large.

Computer Use and Ownership (U.S. Census Bureau)
http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/computer.html
This site presents compute use data collected in 1984, 1989, 1993, and 1997, as a supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS).  The 1997 survey also included questions on Internet use.  The reports and detailed tables examine the characteristics of users, including gender and age groups, and the nature of the tasks being performed.  Most documents are in PDF format.

Computer Virus Information - Symantec AntiVirus Research Center
http://www.symantec.com/avcenter/
Excellent source of anti-virus information from the makers of Norton anti-virus software.  Includes virus alerts, a virus info database (with complete explanations of viruses and hoaxes) and a reference area with links to other virus information sites.

Cryptography A-2-Z
http://www.ssh.fi/tech/crypto
"Provides an introduction to cryptographical methods; algorithms, protocols, standards, etc. and all the economical, social, and legal issues around them."  This site also contains a list of cryptology books, journals, mailing lists, FAQs, societies, and conferences for further information.  This is a good, but somewhat technical introduction to those interested in the details of cryptography.

Download.com
http://download.cnet.com
Access to thousands of Windows and Mac applications, games, and utilities. From CNet.

Ethics in Computing
http://www.eos.ncsu.edu/eos/info/computer_ethics
Browse or search for information about the basics of ethics in computing or specific topics such as privacy, free speech, computer abuse, intellectual property, risks, commerce, and social justice in this tidily organized set of links.  Some dead links but lots of good information in one place. From North Carolina State University.

F-Secure Computer Virus Info Center
http://www.f-secure.com/virus-info
This virus information site, previously known as Data Fellows, has been providing some of the best anti-virus information since 1994.  They still provide their DOS anti-virus software version (F-Prot) for free.

History of Computing
http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history
Great content including an interactive quiz on computing history, an annotated list of computer pioneers with hyperlinks to web biographies, an annotated list of classic machines with links to more complete histories, a year's worth of "Looking Back" from IEEE Computer, celebrating the 50th anniversary of computers and the Virtual Museum of Computing built by Virginia Tech students.

Inc.com
http://www.inc.com/home
The publishers of the popular magazine bring you useful resources for entrepreneurs and small businesses, including information on starting a business and creating and managing a web site.

Next Generation HTML
http://wdvl.com/Authoring/Languages/XML/Overview
A good place to start for those who are comfortable with HTML, but need an introduction to new Web technologies such as cascading style sheets (CCS), dynamic HTML (DHTML), XSL and XML. Explains what these new languages are, their advantages, as well as providing links to specifications.

Shareware.com
http://www.shareware.com/
A tool available for searching and downloading freeware on the Internet.  Good for getting an overview of what's considered the best and what's most popular - on all platforms.  More than 250,000 files. 

Tech Encyclopedia
http://www.techweb.com/encyclopedia
More than 14,000 definitions of computer terms and concepts.

UNIXhelp for Users
http://www.mcsr.olemiss.edu/unixhelp
Excellent introduction to using UNIX.  Indexed, searchable, glossary of terms.

Visual Basic Web Directory
http://www.vb-web-directory.com
The heart of this site is a directory that contains around 3,000 Visual Basic programming Web resources.  Most of them are described.  Visitors can browse by topic or search the entire site with keywords.

WDVL: The Web Developer's Virtual Library
http://www.wdvl.com/
The Web Developer's Virtual Library contains an excellent collection of Web site development resources. They cover authoring, design, graphics, the Internet, and include beginner and intermediate guides and tutorials on HTML; DHTML; VRML; XML; Cascading Style Sheets; Web Programming & Scripting (Java JavaScript, CGI, Perl 5); Graphics (Adobe Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro 5); and UNIX and Databases for the Web.

Webopedia
http://www.webopedia.com
"Webopedia is a free online dictionary for words, phrases and abbreviations that are related to computer and Internet technology. Webopedia provides easy-to-understand definitions in plain language. Editors gather information from standards bodies, leading technology companies, universities, professional online technical publications, white papers and professionals working in the field."

The XML Cover Pages
http://www.oasis-open.org/cover/sgml-xml.html
The XML Cover Pages is an online reference work for the Extensible Markup Language (XML) and its parent, the Standard Generalized Markup Language (SGML). The reference collection features documentation on the application of the open, interoperable "markup language" standards, including XSL, XSLT, XPath, XLink, XPointer, HyTime, DSSSL, CSS, SPDL, CGM, ISO-HTML, and others.