The World Wide Web (WWW) is a vast collection of multimedia resources (textual, graphical, audio, and video) that are stored on networked computers around the world (the Internet). "The Web" has become one of the most popular means of information sharing among online communities, in large part due to the introduction of graphical and textual browsers and related tools that have increased the ease with which users can access and view documents, follow links to related information, and even create their own document collections. Since its start in early 1993, the WWW has experienced dramatic growth (from a few dozen WWW sites in early 1993 to over 12,000 in early 1995, as reported by Matthew Gray in "Growth of the World Wide Web" ). However, one of the Web's greatest strengths - -the ease with which users can set up their own Web pages - -at the same time contributes to one of its greatest weaknesses: The Web has become an immense, disorganized mass of information of variable quality, and unless a user knows the location (the universal resource locator, URL) of a specific document, finding information of interest can be either a daunting task or a serendipitous discovery.
As the Web has grown, the online availability of information relating to women in computing has steadily expanded. Recognizing both the potential value of this dispersed information and the lack of an easy, unified way to find it, we launched The Ada Project (TAP) in July 1994 as a central WWW site through which these resources can be "tapped." TAP serves as a clearinghouse for a wide variety of information relating to women in computing. Visitors to the site can find conference, fellowship, and job announcements; listings of discussion groups and organizations; and descriptions of pertinent projects. TAP also includes extensive bibliographies of references relating to women in computing, science and engineering; early technological and scientific education; and academic issues. While TAP's primary focus is on computing, it also includes information of broader interest to women in engineering, mathematics, and technology.
Wherever possible, TAP includes links to existing online papers and informational sites, rather than archiving information locally. TAP is designed to be a comprehensive index on the topic of women in computing, rather than a massive centralized archive. We hope that the Web will continue to evolve from a large collection of sites that often replicate information already available elsewhere, into a collection of high-quality sites on specific topics that encourage participation and input from the community that finds them interesting. Their users will see these sites as "the places" to go to keep up-to-date. Distributing and delegating efforts in building the Web will make the Web a more organized and useful source of information.
TAP has at least three broad goals: to prompt women to investigate potential careers in computing, to encourage women already in computer science to persist and advance in the field, and to foster a sense of "virtual community" among women in the discipline. The TAP section "Fellowship, Grant and Award Information" provides valuable data about the availability of financial resources for education, and their application deadlines. The sections "Upcoming Conferences" and "Organizations and Discussion Groups" give information on the ways in which women can network - -both online and in person - -with their female colleagues. To provide quick and easy access to time-critical information, TAP includes a "Deadlines and Calls for Participation" section that is an up-to-date compilation of deadlines for the upcoming three months.
TAP also features a growing list of women in Computer Science, to highlight their contributions and successes and serve as encouragement for young women in the field. The section "Past Women of Computing" presents biographies and photographs of influential women from the history of computing and mathematics. One featured historical figure is Ada Lovelace, the daughter of Lord Byron and the namesake of TAP, who is widely recognized as being the first computer programmer. Admiral Grace Murray Hopper, who received her Ph.D. in mathematics in 1934 from Yale, is another computer pioneer who figures prominently. The TAP listing also includes professional biographies of notable contemporary women in industry and academia, as well as links to graduate and undergraduate student Web pages. To date, over fifty professors and twenty research scientists and industrial women have contributed their professional biographical sketches, and over twenty students have furnished links to their Web pages. By collecting and presenting information about women involved in computer science, we hope to create a "virtual community" in which women new to the field will feel less isolated, and where they will find encouragement, support and perhaps most importantly, mentors who can answer their questions and act as role models.
TAP has generated a great deal of interest since its opening. In its first year of operation, the site recorded over 32,000 total accesses, reflecting connections from over 7000 different machines around the world. In March 1995, TAP became an official project of the Association for Computing Machinery's (ACM) Committee on the Status of Women.
To access TAP, use Netscape (or another graphical or textual WWW viewer) to open the URL:
<http://www.cs.yale.edu/homes/tap/tap.html>Response to the site, as reflected by the "The TAP Comments Page," has been extremely positive. The site has supplied many students with information about programs and fellowships; encouraged women to participate in discussion groups at work, school, and online; and provided users with statistical and background information for articles, papers and projects.
TAP is a diverse collection of information. Here are some interesting tidbits worth exploring:
We established TAP as a collection of resources for - and by - women in academic and industrial computing. Our goal is to maintain a comprehensive, high-information-content site where female computer scientists from around the globe can learn more about each other's interests and accomplishments, and find valuable information and encouragement. Though the focus of the site is on women in computing, much of the information is of relevance to male computer scientists as well, and we encourage them to visit and contribute. The future and value of the site depends on the interest and participation of the computing community in keeping TAP as up-to-date as possible. TAP users are encouraged to submit comments, feedback regarding use of the site, biographical profiles, and suggested information for inclusion via the form-based "submission" and "feedback" icons on TAP pages (available with the graphical WWW browsers), or through electronic mail to <tap-submissions@cs.yale.edu>.