"Preface to the Computing Handbook Set The purpose of the Computing Handbook Set is to provide a single, comprehensive reference for specialists in computer science, information systems, information technology, software engineering, and other fields who wish to broaden or deepen their understanding in a particular subfield of the computing discipline. Our goal is to provide up-to-date information on a wide range of topics in a form that is accessible to students, faculty, and professionals. The discipline of computing has developed rapidly since CRC Press published the second edition of the Computer Science Handbook in 2004 (Tucker, 2004). Indeed, it has developed so much that this third edition requires repartitioning and expanding the topic coverage into a two-volume set. The need for two volumes recognizes not only the dramatic growth of computing as a discipline but also the relatively new delineation of computing as a family of five separate disciplines, as described by their professional societies--The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), The IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS), and The Association for Information Systems (AIS) (Shackleford et al., 2005). These separate disciplines are known today as computer engineering, computer science, information systems, information technology, and software engineering. These names more or less fully encompass the variety of undergraduate and graduate degree programs that have evolved around the world, with the exception of countries where the term informatics is used for a subset of these disciplines. The document "Computing curricula 2005: The overview report" describes computing this way (Shackleford et al., 2005, p. 9):"--
Computing Handbook, Third Edition: Information Systems and Information Technology demonstrates the richness and breadth of the IS and IT disciplines. The second volume of this popular handbook explores their close links to the practice of using, managing, and developing IT-based solutions to advance the goals of modern organizational environments. Established leading experts and influential young researchers present introductions to the current status and future directions of research and give in-depth perspectives on the contributions of academic research to the practice of IS and IT development, use, and management
Like the first volume, this second volume describes what occurs in research laboratories, educational institutions, and public and private organizations to advance the effective development and use of computers and computing in todays world. Research-level survey articles provide deep insights into the computing discipline, enabling readers to understand the principles and practices that drive computing education, research, and development in the twenty-first century.