After N-tangle, AQ in plagiarism row

[ratolz]

WASHINGTON: A Pakistani doctoral candidate in the United States has exposed a stark case of plagiarism by Pakistan’s nuclear luminary AQ Khan,

much to the dismay of the controversial man’s hero-worshipping fans and the mirth of his critics.

While Pakistan is still coming to grips with the re-assessment in India of that country’s founding father Mohammed Ali Jinnah, there also appears to be an ongoing re-appraisal of Khan, widely known as the “father” of the country’s nuclear weapons.

It seems that Khan, who is accused of basically stealing centrifuge designs from Europe to kickstart Pakistan’s nuclear weapons program, cannot produce any original work, and that includes writing a simple op-ed article.

A recent op-ed by Khan on the “Science of computers” in Islamabad’s the News from the Jang group contained copious passages plagiarized from university prospectus and school curricula freely available on the internet, writes Fahad Rafique Dogar, a PhD student at Carnegie Mellon University. Dogar has reproduced at least four such instances of plagiarism by Khan by citing the original texts in a letter to the editors, which has gone unchallenged by Pakistan’s nuclear “hero” and the newspaper.

Khan began writing a regular newspaper column in November 2008 when he was released from house arrest after being nominally incarcerated by Pakistan’s military regime for proliferating nuclear weapons technology.

Many of the columns, seen by critics as utterly banal and trite, are devoted to self-promotion and criticizing others, as Khan pontificates about the state of scientific research in Pakistan.

But Khan’s own reputation has been in question in many scientific quarters (including in Pakistan) where it is believed that he is nothing more than a huckster who stole centrifuge designs from Urenco, a European company he worked for, while presenting himself as a “scientist”, when in fact, he is a metallurgist who has no original work to his credit. There are no pioneering scientific papers by Khan in his domain and he is seldom cited in any research.

The latest instance of “intellectual theft” has stirred Pakistani passions in the cyberworld, where critics and supporters of the man have clashed. Khan’s supporters argued that Khan had credited an acolyte who had given him the material lifted from the curricula and therefore could not be accused of plagiarism.


After N-tangle, AQ in plagiarism row - US - World - NEWS - The Times of India

 

[Xeric]

1) Time of india!

2) Can you show us the plagiarized phrases and paras, so that we can determine the extent of plagiarism?

3) If it is attributed it is NOT PLAGIARISM!!

4) i can see some unbiased masala text from the quoted newspaper!

 

[agastya]

are you talkin about this
:::
Monday, August 24, 2009
This is with reference to Dr A Q Khan’s column “Science of computers — part I” which appeared in your pages on Aug 19.

1. Dr Khan writes: “The computer is an essential part of 21st century life. Computer science is a fast-moving subject that gives rise to a range of interesting and often challenging problems. The implementation of today’s complex computer systems requires the skills of a knowledgeable and versatile computer scientist. Artificial intelligence — the study of intelligent behaviour — is having an increasing reference on computer system design. Distributed systems, networks and the internet are now central to the study of computing, presenting both technical and social challenges.”

Now compare this to the first paragraph of Undergraduate Prospectus 2009, University of Sussex(www.sussex.ac.uk/units/publications/ugrad2009/subjects/computing):

“Computing is an essential part of 21st-century life, and is an exceptionally fast-moving subject that gives rise to a range of interesting and challenging problems. The implementation of today’s complex computing systems, networks and multimedia systems requires the skills of knowledgeable and versatile computer scientists. Computer networks and the internet are now central to the study of computing and information technology, presenting both technical and social challenges. Artificial intelligence (AI) — the study of intelligent behaviour — is having an increasing influence on computer system design.”

2. Dr Khan writes: “How do we understand, reason, plan, cooperate, converse, read and communicate? What are the roles of language and logic? What is the structure of the brain? How does vision work? These are all questions as fundamental as the sub-atomic structure of matter. These are also questions where the science of computing plays an important role in our attempts to provide answers. The computer scientist can expect to come face-to-face with problems of great depth and complexity and, together with scientists, engineers and experts in other fields, may help to solve them. Computing is not just about the big questions; it is also about engineering-making things work. Computing is unique in offering both the challenge of science and the satisfaction of engineering.”

Now compare this to the first paragraph of Imperial College London website (www3.imperial.ac.uk/engineering/teaching/exploringengineering/computing): “How do we understand, reason, plan, cooperate, converse, read and communicate? What are the roles of language and logic? What is the structure of the brain? How does vision work? These are questions as fundamental, in their own way, as questions about the sub-atomic structure of matter. They are also questions where the science of computing plays an important role in our attempts to provide answers. The computer scientist can expect to come face-to-face with problems of great depth and complexity and, together with scientists, engineers and experts in other fields, may help to disentangle them. But computing is not just about the big questions it is also about engineering-making things work. Computing is unique in offering both the challenge of a science and the satisfaction of engineering.”

3. Furthermore, Dr Khan writes: “Computer science is an inter-disciplinary subject. It is firmly rooted in engineering and mathematics, with links to linguistics, psychology and other fields. Computer science is concerned with constructing hardware and software systems, digital electronics, compiler design, programming languages, operation systems, networks and graphics. Theoretical computer science addresses fundamental issues: the motion of computable function, proving the correctness of hardware and software and the theory of communicating system.

Again the University of Cambridge website (Undergraduate Admissions: Computer Science) contains the following text: (First paragraph) “Computer science is interdisciplinary. It is firmly rooted in engineering and mathematics, with links to linguistics, psychology and other fields. [...] (Second paragraph) Practical computer science is concerned with constructing hardware and software systems: digital electronics, compiler design, programming languages, operating systems, networks and graphics. Theoretical computer science addresses fundamental issues: the notion of computable function, proving the correctness of hardware and software, the theory of communicating systems.”

4. The second half of Dr Khan’s article (paragraph 7 onwards) can be found in ACM’s Computing Curricula 2009. Although he credits ACM but doesn’t clarify that he is directly copying sentences from a document. Also, in the beginning of his piece he does acknowledge one of his former colleagues, an Engineer Nasim Khan, for input for the article — however, it is not clear whether this input is the reason for the apparent plagiarism.

Fahad Rafique Dogar

PhD student, Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA, US

Careless neglect ::the news ?

 

[Xeric]

are you talkin about this
:::
Monday, August 24, 2009
This is with reference to Dr A Q Khan’s column “Science of computers — part I” which appeared in your pages on Aug 19.

1. Dr Khan writes: “The computer is an essential part of 21st century life. Computer science is a fast-moving subject that gives rise to a range of interesting and often challenging problems. The implementation of today’s complex computer systems requires the skills of a knowledgeable and versatile computer scientist. Artificial intelligence — the study of intelligent behaviour — is having an increasing reference on computer system design. Distributed systems, networks and the internet are now central to the study of computing, presenting both technical and social challenges.”

Now compare this to the first paragraph of Undergraduate Prospectus 2009, University of Sussex(www.sussex.ac.uk/units/publications/ugrad2009/subjects/computing):

“Computing is an essential part of 21st-century life, and is an exceptionally fast-moving subject that gives rise to a range of interesting and challenging problems. The implementation of today’s complex computing systems, networks and multimedia systems requires the skills of knowledgeable and versatile computer scientists. Computer networks and the internet are now central to the study of computing and information technology, presenting both technical and social challenges. Artificial intelligence (AI) — the study of intelligent behaviour — is having an increasing influence on computer system design.”

2. Dr Khan writes: “How do we understand, reason, plan, cooperate, converse, read and communicate? What are the roles of language and logic? What is the structure of the brain? How does vision work? These are all questions as fundamental as the sub-atomic structure of matter. These are also questions where the science of computing plays an important role in our attempts to provide answers. The computer scientist can expect to come face-to-face with problems of great depth and complexity and, together with scientists, engineers and experts in other fields, may help to solve them. Computing is not just about the big questions; it is also about engineering-making things work. Computing is unique in offering both the challenge of science and the satisfaction of engineering.”

Now compare this to the first paragraph of Imperial College London website (www3.imperial.ac.uk/engineering/teaching/exploringengineering/computing): “How do we understand, reason, plan, cooperate, converse, read and communicate? What are the roles of language and logic? What is the structure of the brain? How does vision work? These are questions as fundamental, in their own way, as questions about the sub-atomic structure of matter. They are also questions where the science of computing plays an important role in our attempts to provide answers. The computer scientist can expect to come face-to-face with problems of great depth and complexity and, together with scientists, engineers and experts in other fields, may help to disentangle them. But computing is not just about the big questions it is also about engineering-making things work. Computing is unique in offering both the challenge of a science and the satisfaction of engineering.”

3. Furthermore, Dr Khan writes: “Computer science is an inter-disciplinary subject. It is firmly rooted in engineering and mathematics, with links to linguistics, psychology and other fields. Computer science is concerned with constructing hardware and software systems, digital electronics, compiler design, programming languages, operation systems, networks and graphics. Theoretical computer science addresses fundamental issues: the motion of computable function, proving the correctness of hardware and software and the theory of communicating system.

Again the University of Cambridge website (Undergraduate Admissions: Computer Science) contains the following text: (First paragraph) “Computer science is interdisciplinary. It is firmly rooted in engineering and mathematics, with links to linguistics, psychology and other fields. [...] (Second paragraph) Practical computer science is concerned with constructing hardware and software systems: digital electronics, compiler design, programming languages, operating systems, networks and graphics. Theoretical computer science addresses fundamental issues: the notion of computable function, proving the correctness of hardware and software, the theory of communicating systems.”

4. The second half of Dr Khan’s article (paragraph 7 onwards) can be found in ACM’s Computing Curricula 2009. Although he credits ACM but doesn’t clarify that he is directly copying sentences from a document. Also, in the beginning of his piece he does acknowledge one of his former colleagues, an Engineer Nasim Khan, for input for the article — however, it is not clear whether this input is the reason for the apparent plagiarism.

Fahad Rafique Dogar

PhD student, Carnegie Mellon University

Pittsburgh, PA, US

Careless neglect ::the news ?

Thanks for sharing, but i am still concerned about the fact that were there any attributions made during the write of it was just the paraphrasing without any attribution?

Paraphrasing and then attributing the source is not plagiarism.

BTW, your links to the university site doesnt work.

 

[Xeric]

Although he credits ACM but doesn’t clarify that he is directly copying sentences from a document. Also, in the beginning of his piece he does acknowledge one of his former colleagues, an Engineer Nasim Khan, for input for the article — however, it is not clear whether this input is the reason for the apparent plagiarism.

It is quite clear, that the source has been attributed and quoted, but if one doesn't want to believe, no one can dare make him believe!

Whether one paraphrases or copy the exact text and mentions the source in any form (e.g. According to XYZ University website, or as per Doctor ABC research, or The EFG group says that....), we cant blame him for plagiarism!!

 

[agastya]

Thanks for sharing, but i am still concerned about the fact that were there any attributions made during the write of it was just the paraphrasing without any attribution?

Paraphrasing and then attributing the source is not plagiarism.

BTW, your links to the university site doesnt work.

i think i am not the fit person to to distinguish between attribution and plagiarism..
but i think if you take something from source you mention about the source from where its been lifted ....

about the link i myself didnt check it thank for pointing it .. i just copied the article for pakistani news paper as you asked for a source other then times of india
might be the site is up for maintainance

 

[Xeric]

i think i am not the fit person to to distinguish between attribution and plagiarism..
but i think if you take something from source you mention about the source from where its been lifted ....

Yeah it is as simple as that!

 

[agastya]

but was the source from where it was taken mentioned ..

he only mentions acm and none other..and before you use the article from differnt source one needs to have have a permission from the publisher..as it comes under copyright infringement and intellectual infringement

 

[agastya]

Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement: Is Copying Illegal?

You've heard some teachers say that it's always wrong to copy someone else's work. They ruthlessly check your papers for plagiarism. Other teachers say that it's all right as long as you give credit to the original author. Who's right?

To answer this question, we have to think about the difference between plagiarism and copyright infringement. Take a look at these definitions from The Council Chronicle for English teachers:

Plagiarism is using someone else's work without giving proper credit - a failure to cite adequately.

Copyright infringement is using someone else's creative work, which can include a song, a video, a movie clip, a piece of visual art, a photograph, and other creative works, without authorization or compensation, if compensation is appropriate.

Schools enforce plagiarism.
The courts enforce copyright infringement. 1

What? Did I just copy those definitions from their Web site? As a matter of fact, I did. This is not an example of plagiarism, since I gave credit to the author of the definitions. (See the References section at the bottom of this article.) It's not copyright infringement, either, since my short quote is allowed by the "fair use" exemption in copyright law.
Plagiarism

Plagiarism is using someone else's work without giving proper credit. Schools deal with plagiarism by giving the cheaters academic consequences. Most teachers will give F grades for plagiarized work, and some will do more. When I was a teaching assistant at Stanford University, some students were suspended for copying answers during a test.

Plagiarism doesn't have to include copyright infringement. For example, William Shakespeare's plays are not copyrighted because they're too old. Even though it would technically be legal to copy from one of those plays for an English assignment, it would still be plagiarism if you didn't give credit to Shakespeare. Your teacher may not be able to take you to court over it, but she can certainly give you an F. You might even get suspended or expelled from school. Even though copying one sentence from a Web site is legal according to United States copyright laws, that may still count as plagiarism in your teacher's book.
Copyright Infringement

Copyright infringement is using someone else's work without getting that person's permission. The author of any original work, including books, essays, Web pages, songs, pictures, and videos, automatically gets the copyright to that work, even if she doesn't label it with the copyright symbol and her name. The work must be fixed in tangible form, which means it must be stored on something physical, such as paper, canvas, a CD, or a hard disk. This makes college students copyright owners, since they've already written many original works for school.

The owner of a copyright gets to decide who can legally make copies of that work. It is illegal to copy large sections of someone else's copyrighted work without permission, even if you give the original author credit. Imagine someone making copies of the movie Finding Nemo without asking for permission. He sure won't get away with it just by giving the authors credit on the DVD cover!

Fortunately, a fair use exemption allows you to legally copy small amounts of someone else's work. Just make sure to give the author credit so you won't be guilty of plagiarism!

The courts assign consequences for copyright infringement. This means someone may come after you with a lawyer if you violate his copyright. Your school can report copyright infringement to people who have the legal power to take you to court. Students have been sued for copyright infringement before.2 In some cases, the court may require you to pay the fees for both your lawyer and the copyright owner's lawyer.
Is It Okay to Change Someone Else's Words For My Essay?

Taking a copyrighted work and changing it creates something called a derivative work. Since you made changes to create the derivative work, you share the copyright for it with the copyright owner of the original work. Since you don't own the entire copyright for the derivative work, you must still ask for permission before making copies of it.

Because of this, taking someone else's work and changing some of the words only creates a derivative work and does not give you full ownership of the copyright. Even if no one decides to take you to court over it, your teacher might still decide that you are guilty of plagiarism. Instead of paraphrasing someone else's paper and calling it your own, try learning from other people's work first and then writing your own paper from scratch. Read some of these tips for writing an essay in your own words.
Conclusion

Between the consequences for plagiarism and copyright infringement, it's just not worth it to copy other people's work. If you do need to use a few words from another source, take some precautions:

* Put those words in quotation marks or indent them to indicate clearly that they are not your own words.
* Add a footnote to give credit to the original author.
* Keep the length of your quotation down to a few sentences so you won't be guilty of copyright infringement.

If you're jumpy and want to make extra sure you haven't copied, then plug some phrases from your essay into PlagiarismChecker.com. Hopefully, you'll never have to say that what seems like plagiarism was just an accident. Make sure that your hard work is rewarded with the grade you deserve.
References

1. Plagiarism and Copyright - What Are the Differences? (The Council Chronicle, Nov. 05). 16 Jan 2006 <http://www.ncte.org/pubs/chron/highlights/122872.htm>. The definitions were modified to make them more consistent with copyright law's use of the terms "tangible form" and "idea".
2. Stanford Policies: Copyrighted Material and File-Sharing Networks - Stanford University Office of Judicial Affairs
Plagiarism vs. Copyright Infringement: Is Copying Illegal?

 

[Xeric]

but was the source from where it was taken mentioned ..

he only mentions acm and none other..and before you use the article from differnt source one needs to have have a permission from the publisher..as it comes under copyright infringement and intellectual infringement

As i said earlier i dont see the article written by AQ Khan here, so i cant comment on it. As for your concerns over infringements, there are different rules for different sources, open sources can just be attributed and quoted, such as websites, interviews, etc etc, even books can be quoted until the PROPER attribution is presented. Anything that says that it cant be quoted without PERMISSION would require the quoter to 'ask' for permission, until then it's ok to take the piece and properly attribute the source. That's what i know of this.

 

[Xeric]

Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement: Is Copying Illegal?

You've heard some teachers say that it's always wrong to copy someone else's work. They ruthlessly check your papers for plagiarism. Other teachers say that it's all right as long as you give credit to the original author. Who's right?

To answer this question, we have to think about the difference between plagiarism and copyright infringement. Take a look at these definitions from The Council Chronicle for English teachers:

Plagiarism is using someone else's work without giving proper credit - a failure to cite adequately.

Copyright infringement is using someone else's creative work, which can include a song, a video, a movie clip, a piece of visual art, a photograph, and other creative works, without authorization or compensation, if compensation is appropriate.

Schools enforce plagiarism.
The courts enforce copyright infringement. 1

What? Did I just copy those definitions from their Web site? As a matter of fact, I did. This is not an example of plagiarism, since I gave credit to the author of the definitions. (See the References section at the bottom of this article.) It's not copyright infringement, either, since my short quote is allowed by the "fair use" exemption in copyright law.
Plagiarism

Plagiarism is using someone else's work without giving proper credit. Schools deal with plagiarism by giving the cheaters academic consequences. Most teachers will give F grades for plagiarized work, and some will do more. When I was a teaching assistant at Stanford University, some students were suspended for copying answers during a test.

Plagiarism doesn't have to include copyright infringement. For example, William Shakespeare's plays are not copyrighted because they're too old. Even though it would technically be legal to copy from one of those plays for an English assignment, it would still be plagiarism if you didn't give credit to Shakespeare. Your teacher may not be able to take you to court over it, but she can certainly give you an F. You might even get suspended or expelled from school. Even though copying one sentence from a Web site is legal according to United States copyright laws, that may still count as plagiarism in your teacher's book.
Copyright Infringement

Copyright infringement is using someone else's work without getting that person's permission. The author of any original work, including books, essays, Web pages, songs, pictures, and videos, automatically gets the copyright to that work, even if she doesn't label it with the copyright symbol and her name. The work must be fixed in tangible form, which means it must be stored on something physical, such as paper, canvas, a CD, or a hard disk. This makes college students copyright owners, since they've already written many original works for school.

The owner of a copyright gets to decide who can legally make copies of that work. It is illegal to copy large sections of someone else's copyrighted work without permission, even if you give the original author credit. Imagine someone making copies of the movie Finding Nemo without asking for permission. He sure won't get away with it just by giving the authors credit on the DVD cover!

Fortunately, a fair use exemption allows you to legally copy small amounts of someone else's work. Just make sure to give the author credit so you won't be guilty of plagiarism!

The courts assign consequences for copyright infringement. This means someone may come after you with a lawyer if you violate his copyright. Your school can report copyright infringement to people who have the legal power to take you to court. Students have been sued for copyright infringement before.2 In some cases, the court may require you to pay the fees for both your lawyer and the copyright owner's lawyer.
Is It Okay to Change Someone Else's Words For My Essay?

Taking a copyrighted work and changing it creates something called a derivative work. Since you made changes to create the derivative work, you share the copyright for it with the copyright owner of the original work. Since you don't own the entire copyright for the derivative work, you must still ask for permission before making copies of it.

Because of this, taking someone else's work and changing some of the words only creates a derivative work and does not give you full ownership of the copyright. Even if no one decides to take you to court over it, your teacher might still decide that you are guilty of plagiarism. Instead of paraphrasing someone else's paper and calling it your own, try learning from other people's work first and then writing your own paper from scratch. Read some of these tips for writing an essay in your own words.
Conclusion

Between the consequences for plagiarism and copyright infringement, it's just not worth it to copy other people's work. If you do need to use a few words from another source, take some precautions:

* Put those words in quotation marks or indent them to indicate clearly that they are not your own words.
* Add a footnote to give credit to the original author.
* Keep the length of your quotation down to a few sentences so you won't be guilty of copyright infringement.

If you're jumpy and want to make extra sure you haven't copied, then plug some phrases from your essay into PlagiarismChecker.com. Hopefully, you'll never have to say that what seems like plagiarism was just an accident. Make sure that your hard work is rewarded with the grade you deserve.
References

1. Plagiarism and Copyright - What Are the Differences? (The Council Chronicle, Nov. 05). 16 Jan 2006 <http://www.ncte.org/pubs/chron/highlights/122872.htm>. The definitions were modified to make them more consistent with copyright law's use of the terms "tangible form" and "idea".
2. Stanford Policies: Copyrighted Material and File-Sharing Networks - Stanford University Office of Judicial Affairs
Plagiarism vs. Copyright Infringement: Is Copying Illegal?

Sorry i dont have time to go through what you have just pasted, but let me clear my stance a bit more.

If your university/college asked to produce a research and you went on copy/pasting some others work with FULL attributions, so then sir you are in trouble, BUT if i have to write an article, a column, an op-ed etc etc and i need to prove some point and make my text more credible and i take a para or two from a source and mention it in my text, it would do the job. An example can be ..hmm.. if you have to write a speech and you quote someone (a verse, a quote, a para, an example..whatever) and then attribute it to the original writer no one is going to hand no one.

 

[Xeric]

Rest the attribution thing is quite common sense!

As mentioned in what you have posted lately, if some copies a movie and then attributes it, ...lolzzz... it's stupidity. That's one.

Two, copying 'large' sections is another thing one has to keep in mind, if i copy the complete page or the complete stuff i am doing it wrong. The best way is to paraphrase it and then attribute it.

 

[agastya]

f your university/college asked to produce a research and you went on copy/pasting some others work with FULL attributions, so then sir you are in trouble, BUT if i have to write an article, a column, an op-ed etc etc and i need to prove some point and make my text more credible and i take a para or two from a source and mention it in my text, it would do the job. An example can be ..hmm.. if you have to write a speech and you quote someone (a verse, a quote, a para, an example..whatever) and then attribute it to the original writer no one is going to hand no one.

yes even i agree to your whole point so the whole question boils down to whether what he quoted from was from open source??
if its from an open source its quite well and fine but if not plagiarism comes into play:::
i dont remember the name of an indian novelist but she(i think it was she) accused of plagiarism because she lifted the idea from other person novel::

 

[agastya]

just for the sake of it i am posting the original article


Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Dr A Q Khan

It is very gratifying to get literally hundreds of emails from young students at home and abroad with suggestions and requests to write on various topics, mostly on engineering disciplines. This column is in response to such requests and is meant for the student community and not for experts and trained professionals in this field who definitely know much more than I do. I hope this information will be useful to future computer engineers and scientists. Since many foreign universities teach artificial intelligence (AI) in computer science, I am also briefly touching this topic. It should be realised that computer technology is one of the most fundamental disciplines of engineering and, together with mechanical engineering, metallurgical engineering, electronic engineering, chemical engineering, civil engineering and bio-engineering, forms the basis of the industrial development of a country. I am thankful to my old colleague, Eng Nasim Khan, for invaluable input for this column.

The computer is an essential part of 21st century life. Computer science is a fast-moving subject that gives rise to a range of interesting and often challenging problems. The implementation of today's complex computer systems requires the skills of a knowledgeable and versatile computer scientist. Artificial intelligence &#8211; the study of intelligent behaviour &#8211; is having an increasing reference on computer system design. Distributed systems, networks and the internet are now central to the study of computing, presenting both technical and social challenges.

How do we understand, reason, plan, cooperate, converse, read and communicate? What are the roles of language and logic? What is the structure of the brain? How does vision work? These are all questions as fundamental as the sub-atomic structure of matter. These are also questions where the science of computing plays an important role in our attempts to provide answers. The computer scientist can expect to come face-to-face with problems of great depth and complexity and, together with scientists, engineers and experts in other fields, may help to solve them. Computing is not just about the big questions; it is also about engineering &#8211; making things work. Computing is unique in offering both the challenge of science and the satisfaction of engineering.

Computer science is an inter-disciplinary subject. It is firmly rooted in engineering and mathematics, with links to linguistics, psychology and other fields. Computer science is concerned with constructing hardware and software systems, digital electronics, compiler design, programming languages, operation systems, networks and graphics. Theoretical computer science addresses fundamental issues: the motion of computable function, proving the correctness of hardware and software and the theory of communicating systems.

Computer science includes the study of computers, but there is more to it than this alone as it is generally also concerned with information management and the process of information. Only a small part of the discipline is devoted to making the computers' elaborate numerical calculations. By far the largest part is concerned with those general computing techniques that are useful, whether the data is numerical or non-numerical. Computer science is based on electronics, physics and mathematics and needs a thorough understanding of these disciplines.

Long ago foreign universities realised the importance of computer science and set up independent departments. The critical requirement was curriculum guidelines and procedures for accreditation of degrees. This task was undertaken by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), founded in 1948 as a scientific and professional organisation concerned with the development and sharing of new knowledge about all aspects of computing. The ACM began publishing curriculum recommendations for computer science (CS) and for information systems (IS).

Later, three more professional bodies were formed:

1. The Association for Information Systems (generally called 'AIS') was founded in 1994. It is a global organisation serving academia that specialises in information systems. Most academic members of the AIS are affiliated with schools/colleges of business or management. The AIS began providing curriculum recommendations for IS in cooperation with the ACM and the AITP (see below) in 1997.

2. The Association for Information Technology Professionals (AITP) was founded in 1951 as the National Machine Accountants Association. In 1962 it became the Data Processing Management Association (DPMA). It adopted its present name in 1996. The AITP focuses on the professional side of computing, serving those who use computing technology to meet the needs of business and other organisations. It first provided curriculum recommendations for IS in 1985.

3. The Computer Society of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers (often referred to as IEEE-CS or the Computer Society) originated in 1946. This is a technical society within the IEEE that is focussed on computing from the engineering perspective.

Prior to the 1990s, each society produced its own curriculum recommendations. Over time, the advantages of cooperation among them became obvious. Today they cooperate in creating curriculum standards and, in this way, send a single message to the computing community.

This discipline developed a considerable body of research, knowledge and innovation that spanned the range from theory to practice and the initial controversy about its legitimacy soon died down. Also during the 1990s, industrial needs for qualified computer science graduates exceeded supply by a large factor. Consequently, enrolment in CS programmes grew very dramatically.

Software engineering: it has emerged as an area within computer science that focuses on rigorous methods for designing and building things that reliably do what they are expected to do. In addition to its computer science foundations, software engineering also involves human processes that, by their very nature, are harder to formalise than are the logical abstractions of computer science.

Information systems: it had to address a growing sphere of challenges like accounting systems, payroll systems, inventory systems, etc. By the end of the 1990s networked personal computers had become basic commodities. Computers had become an integral part of the work environment used by people at all levels of the organisation. Organisations had more information available than ever before and organisational processes were increasingly enabled by computing technology. The problems of managing information became extremely complex and the challenges of making proper use of information and technology to support organisational efficiency and effectiveness became crucial issues.

Information technology: it began to emerge in the late 1990s. By that time computers and networked computer systems became the information backbone of organisations. While this improved productivity, it also created new workplace dependencies, as problems in the computing infrastructure can limit employees' ability to do their work. IT departments with corporations and other organisations took on the new job of ensuring that the organisation's computing infrastructure was suitable, that it worked reliably and that people in the organisation had their computing-related needs met, problems solved, etc.

The information given above has been taken from the ACM website. Detailed information on the above programs can be viewed on the ACM website Educational Activities &mdash; Association for Computing Machinery
Science of computers Part I

 

[Xeric]

i dont remember the name of an indian novelist but she(i think it was she) accused of plagiarism because she lifted the idea from other person novel::

Lollzz... ya, that's what i call plagiarism in classic sense