Overview

LCM+L is a hands-on computing technology museum that aims to empower people through the active use of computing technology. LCM+L’s project aimed to expand the software preservation discussion into the “Middle Ages of computing” through emulation of vintage operating systems and software. 

The FCoP project aimed to pilot a number of emulators for vintage operating systems and software in order to preserve and share computing history. The pilot worked to bring in-house emulators, developed by LCM+L staff, into the Emulation-as-a-Service Infrastructure (EaaSi) sandbox. It also focused on best practices and workflow documentation for working with emulators, and exploring the experience of emulators themselves. Expanding the possibilities of emulation, including emulation as a service, builds towards the LCM+L goal of providing access to experience — that is, visitor access to working computers and software that could be used both onsite and online.  

The Team

Dorian Bowen: Media Archivist (left)

Stephen Jones: Engineer

Cynde Moya: (former) Project Lead, Software Preservation Lab Manager

Josh Dersch: Senior Vintage Software Engineer (right)

 

Insights

  • “Touch” museums, where objects are available for interaction with visitors, present interesting challenges when computing and software preservation are involved. At a museum like Living Computers: Museum + Labs, computers are displayed both as objects and as platforms for software.
  • Software preservation and emulation projects can benefit from improved descriptive and preservation metadata collection, by helping prioritize which information is useful to collect, what might be extraneous, and what is important to plan for.
  • Emulation as a Service can ideally leaving the user of the emulated software to focus on the experience of exploring the software and operating systems, without needing to do the detailed technical work of installing an emulator on their own computer system.

Reflections

FCoP 2019 Cohort Reflections: Living Computers: Museum + Labs

Living Computers: Museum + Labs (LCM+L) joined the Fostering a Community of Practice: Software Preservation cohort for the opportunity to test the Emulation-as-a-Service (EaaS) tool in our museum setting. LCM+L’s original project goal was to integrate a few of our …Continue FCoP 2019 Cohort Reflections: Living Computers: Museum + Labs

Cohort Reflections, FCoP, News,

Live Testing

This Twitch stream documents the LCM+L team’s live testing of the EaaSI sandbox.

https://www.twitch.tv/videos/403276350?filter=all&sort=time

All-Cohort Exercises

Living Computers: Scenarios for Use and Access

This completed worksheet describes the Living Computers: Museum + Labs’ scope and outcomes for their Collections and Software Inventory. Information gathered during this exercise includes: Data sources referenced or searched to complete the inventory Difficulties encountered while attempting to locate …Continue Living Computers: Scenarios for Use and Access

All-Cohort Exercises, FCoP, Resources,

Living Computers: Software Collection Inventory Spreadsheet

This spreadsheet catalogs Living Computers: Museum + Labs’ the software and software-dependent items included in their Collections and Software Inventory. Information gathered during this exercise includes: Collection Name or Nickname Physical Location or Metadata Record URL Software Name Software Type …Continue Living Computers: Software Collection Inventory Spreadsheet

All-Cohort Exercises, FCoP, Resources,

Living Computers: Software Collection Inventory Worksheet

This completed worksheet describes the Living Computers: Museum + Labs’ scope and outcomes for their Collections and Software Inventory. Information gathered during this exercise includes: Data sources referenced or searched to complete the inventory Difficulties encountered while attempting to locate …Continue Living Computers: Software Collection Inventory Worksheet

All-Cohort Exercises, FCoP, Resources,