An Interview with Richard Giering Continues.

This article presents an interview with Richard Giering, a developer of the full-text retrieval technology, on his early U.S. military and Data Corporation experiences in developing the technology. In response to the merger of the company with Mead Corporation, Giering narrates that the merger started with Lysle Cahill, who was president and partner with Bill Gorog of Data Corporation, who was also a friend and neighbor of Jim McSweeney, the chief executive officer of Mead Corporation. Focusing on legal matters, Giering said that Arthur D. Little was contacted, who brought in a study team headed by H. Donald Wilson. One problem faced was that Little did not take into account the changes in office processes that would take place as a result of the technology. Allegedly, Data Corp. was issued a contract by the Foreign Technology Division of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The statement of work included in the contract was to write a series of classified programs that would encompass all research being done by all military forces in the U.S. The contract was broad in terms that a number of in-house programs already underway included special assignments, particularly with the Space and Missile Systems Organization on the West Coast.