Please pass this onto any interested people<br><br>As some of you already know, I have taken a side interest in the battle against the rot of digital decay (no, this is not a dental hygiene issue) and enthusiasm to throw out the old as we continually upgrade our computer hardware. Towards this goal, I have been trying to better understand the preservation issues related to preserving our computer heritage.<br>
<br><div style="margin-left: 40px;"><a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/14/2189966.htm">http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/14/2189966.htm</a><br>
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<div style="margin-left: 40px;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">"</span>Computer artefacts held by the
Australian Computer Museum Society face the scrap heap if they do not
find a new home. Relics include one of Australia's first computers,
SILLIAC, and pieces of a 1920s machine used to calculate odds at horse
races."</span><br clear="all">
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<br>This got me thinking that some of us already have small collections in 'back rooms' and cupboards for nostalgic or educational reasons.<br><br>Already I have had a good chat to David Demant, curator at the Melbourne Museum, about how these schools can best handle their collections and he has made some good suggestions that I would like to follow up. David curated an exhibition on digital technology that included the first computer built in Australia, CSIRAC. <a href="http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/csirac/">http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/csirac/</a><br>
<br>As a start, I would be interested in contacting anybody who is maintaining a small collection of computer artefacts at their school, college or university. We may organise some online or face-to-face meetings to discuss the issues related to the preservation of this heritage and start up a register of what we have. Importantly, we can do something about recording the precious stories that surround this equipment before it ruts, rusts or gets eaten by the rats.<br>
<br><span class="photo_container pc_m"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/plakboek/1886242223/" title="School computer museum"><img src="http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2145/1886242223_3969d7ef90_m.jpg" alt="School computer museum" class="pc_img" height="180" width="240"></a></span><br>
<br>Regards Roland<br><br>-- <br>Roland Gesthuizen - ICT Coordinator - Westall Secondary College<br><a href="http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au">http://www.westallsc.vic.edu.au</a><br><br>"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has." --Margaret Mead