Elizabeth Petrick: “The Annotated Patent History Digital Archive”

14. Jun

CDC Events – Sommer 2022

14. Juni, 18 Uhr, C40.152

Elizabeth Petrick (Rice University, Houston) is going to talk about The Annotated Patent History Digital Archive. The site invites researchers to investigate the history of patents in the United States. It provides historical context for a range of patented inventions, in the form of essays that recount an innovation’s development, technical significance, and long-term effects on business, science, or society. The project also allows researchers to explore connections between inventions, in order to better understand who files patents and where, what counts as success for a patented invention, and, in general, the process of innovation in this country.

Elizabeth Petrick is an Associate Professor of History at Rice University. She works on the history of computer technology, the relationship between technology and users (particularly, users with disabilities), interfaces, and how technology relates to civil rights. Her book Making Computers Accessible: Disability Rights and Digital Technology (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2015) received the 2017 Computer History Museum Book Prize.