Museum of Computing facing eviction

UK's first dedicated computer museum urgently seeks new home

Ian Williams, vnunet.com 01 Apr 2008

The UK's first dedicated computer museum, the Museum of Computing in Swindon, is seeking a new home as it is facing eviction in the coming months.

The Museum of Computing is currently housed in the business library of the University of Bath at Swindon's Oakfield campus.

However, the university will be withdrawing from the Oakfield campus in July, leaving the museum to seek out new premises for the 2,000 hardware exhibits, 2,500 software items and around 1,500 books, manuals, magazines and sundry items.

The Museum of Computing costs the public nothing to maintain, operating as a not-for-profit company run entirely by volunteers on a budget garnered from donations and sponsorship.

Intel confirmed a sponsorship programme last year that has enabled improvements to displays and an education outreach programme.

Exhibitions have gained global media coverage in a wide variety of formats and channels.

The most popular exhibition was 'High Score' which covered the computer gaming industry from the very early years.

It included an East German arcade machine which was incredibly rare because it is the last of three surviving machines and is the only one in working order.

Other exhibitions include 'A History of Home Computers', 'Computers on the Move' and 'Calculator'.

The museum's current 'Pong to PlayStation' exhibition focuses on the history of the games console and is due to tour six other venues in the UK from April 2009.

It is seeking a new location in Swindon with 75 square metres of exhibition space, disabled access and 100 square metres of storage space. Preferably these would be adjoining premises.

"Ideally we feel the museum should remain in Swindon, partly because we have an enthusiastic and dedicated team of volunteers, without whom it could not survive," said founder and local solicitor Jeremy Holt.

The museum is also looking for people who can offer transport, physical help or funding to support the relocation.

Those who may be able to help are asked to contact the curator, Simon Webb, on info@museum-of-computing.org.uk or +44 (0)7939 582544.

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