WORKING NOTES

Some CONTENTS -

• History;
• Nature;
• Using the material;
• List of Computer Centre notes;
• List of Computer Science Department notes;
• List of Rehabilitation notes.

How working notes began.

It all started in 1979 while I was working in the computer centre at Auckland University. We had been concerned in a desultory way about the general disorganisation of our casual communications, because we'd found that sometimes they remained useful for reference long after they'd been lost.

We did nothing about it until Nevil Brownlee returned from a visit to somewhere and told us about the system of informal "working papers" which they used; anything which might just possibly be of interest for more than a day or two was given a number and stored as a working paper originating from its author. There was a sort of agreement that it would be a Good Thing to try.

So I tried it. All my working notes ( except the D series, to be explained shortly ) have labels beginning with "AC" to identify them as mine. As no one else ever produced any ( with an exception which I shall explain ), the prefix is really redundant. Some time later, Nevil audibly wondered why I took the trouble to record the stuff, and was surprised when I told him that he had raised the idea. Incidentally, they're called "working notes" because that was my memory of what Nevil had originally said.

The exception I mentioned is connected with the Zeno project. This was a computer centre enterprise aimed at constructing an operating system interface which we could easily transport from computer to computer, so that students throughout the university could have a consistent view of the system. I was in charge of the enterprise, and caused others involved to write their own working notes for reasons as described. It half-worked - which is to say that it didn't work at all. A few people joined in, but some declined to do so, so we never had any coherent complete record of what was going on. Most of my notes from AC8 to AC30 are related to Zeno, and some are not very comprehensible on their own. ( Zeno was not a big success for various reasons, but we learnt a lot. Anyone interested might care to inspect the Zeno technical report. )

The D series are Distinct from the others. They are all about my particular interest of rehabilitation systems, and I started the separate series because it seemed likely that few people would be interested in both collections. It started bravely with some entries which even I now find for the most part unconvincing, then languished as I became less confident that I'd ever get anywhere. More recently, I've come back to the idea, so there's a very big gap, and there are quite a number of notes connected with rehabilitation in the AC series. After some cogitation, I gave these D numbers as well, and notes in this category have two entries, which are linked. They are really AC notes.

Discipline in the early years was not perfect. Whether AC6 ever existed, and, if so, what it was, are questions which are never likely to be answered, as is that of why I wrote two AC13s. Formats vary in the Computer Centre notes, though a sort of ideal is discernible; it all settled down when microcomputers came along, and I could look after it for myself. ( That was just about when I moved to the Computer Science Department. )

What working notes are.

Working notes are records of ideas which had not been properly worked out when they were written. They have rather more status than scrappy notes on odd bits of paper, but far less than anything that might be recorded in the humblest publication. I include the list here mainly so that I can refer to those which are of interest in connection with various of my preoccupations. The notes are not secret, but they're not necessarily the sort of material I want to advertise widely. If any takes your fancy enough for you to want a copy, you can get a pdf version if the code number is active. If not, let me know, and I'll send you a copy somehow if I can find one.

I write working notes for several reasons : so that I don't forget what I've done; for the exercise of writing it down - I find it clarifies thoughts wonderfully; to record something somewhere so that it won't get lost; as a contribution to someone's project or thesis; to get something off my mind. Many are half-finished research projects, and not a few are not-even-started research projects - if you want to finish one off, get in touch. You might be on your own, but I'll be interested. On the other hand, you might find that it's part of a research topic which someone is actively pursuing, in which case I'll put you in touch with the pursuer concerned.

A lot of the material is of no conceivable interest to anyone, but now and then I do find it handy to have the collection - and in such cases it is indispensable. I commend the idea, but leave it to you to judge the notes themselves.

Using the stuff.

Here it is; help yourself. Bear in mind that most of it is opinion, and not necessarily profoundly considered, so I might not believe it any more. If you want to use it, do so and welcome; copyright is hereby waived, but it would be nice if you observed the usual courtesy of identifying the source of anything you use in a publication. The preferred reference is :

G.A. Creak : "title", unpublished working note number ( date ).

Add the URL if you wish; I have no control over department policy, but I'm not going to move any of it.

Go to me ( Alan Creak, in case you've forgotten );
Go to Computer Science.

Any entries in italic type are in preparation, and shouldn't be taken too seriously.

Go to me ( Alan Creak, in case you've forgotten );
Go to Computer Science.