Request for Reference Information
A request for reference materials on data communications and communications theory.
Bouknight, J., "Request for Reference Information", RFC 81, DOI 10.17487/RFC0081, December 1970, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc81>.
@misc{rfc81,
series = {Request for Comments},
number = 81,
howpublished = {RFC 81},
publisher = {RFC Editor},
doi = {10.17487/RFC0081},
url = {https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc81},
author = {J. Bouknight},
title = {{Request for Reference Information}},
pagetotal = 1,
year = 1970,
month = dec,
} RFC text
Network Working Group J. Bouknight
Request for Comments: 81 University of Illinois
Category: Informational Center for Advanced Computation
December 1970
Request for Reference Information
Please ask your Technical Liaison Contact if he will send me as many
references as he can in the subject areas of data communications and
communications theory.
The mailing address is:
Center for Advanced Computation
University of Illinois
168 Engineering Research Laboratory
Urbana, IL 61801
[ This RFC was put into machine readable form for entry ]
[ into the online RFC archives by Randy Dunlap 3/97 ]
AI ELI5
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§1The Reference Request
RFC 81 is a brief administrative request from J. Bouknight at the Center for Advanced Computation (CAC) at the University of Illinois. The request asks technical liaison contacts at each site to send as many references as possible on two subject areas: data communications and communications theory.
The author asked other groups to send over reference materials they had about how networks work.
§2Why This Matters
This brief RFC reflects the collaborative, distributed nature of early ARPA network research. Different sites were implementing different protocols and systems, and sharing reference materials was part of the knowledge-sharing infrastructure that supported coordinated development. The CAC was preparing to join the network and needed background materials to support their implementation work.
Such requests were common during this period, as sites coordinated through both formal RFCs and informal communication channels to share technical knowledge and ensure that different implementations were informed by the same underlying theory and practice.
The different groups building the network shared knowledge and papers with each other so they would all understand the same ideas and build compatible systems.
§3Contact Information
The RFC provides a mailing address at the Center for Advanced Computation in Urbana, Illinois for sending the reference materials. This was typical of early network communication, where coordination happened through both the nascent network itself and traditional postal mail.
The request included an address where people should mail the materials they found.