From Gutenberg to the Internet: A Sourcebook on the History of Information Technology

From Gutenberg to the Internet: A Sourcebook on the History of Information Technology is edited by Jeremy M. Norman. Not nearly enough good things can be said for this book. As far as being the source that you were looking for providing a history of information technology, this book is almost perfect. The book represents a collection of important papers and articles written in the 1930s through the late 1960s. More importantly, a nice summary of information technology is given at the beginning of the book and an awesome timeline is provided in the middle of the book. The book even referenced prior anthologies that provide perspectives about computing during various times in American history (Great Papers in Computer Science, The World of the Computer, Perspectives on the Computer Revolution, and The Origins of Digital Computers). This book provides a wonderful baseline of information technology and will serve as a central role in determining what information technology is:

"IT chiefly concerns computers and other electronic modalities used to acquire, process, communicate, and store information in digital form. On the other hand, information science, as opposed to IT, concerns the collection, organization, and management of recorded information in all of its forms." p.7

Here is the book's website: http://historyofscience.com/G2I/

Rejoice! One major part of the puzzle is starting to become clearer.....