introducing the Media Archaeology Lab

Hello all, I wanted to move from lurker to...whatever the opposite is by introducing myself and the Media Archaeology Lab (MAL) I run. I'm thrilled to discover your listserv as I'm learning a lot just by reading your posts and I think many of you will be interested in the MAL. http://mediaarchaeologylab.com Founded in 2009 and housed on the University of Colorado at Boulder campus, the Media Archaeology Lab houses obsolete media from the early twentieth century to the twenty-first century for hands-on research, teaching, and research creation. I've come to see that the MAL is a remarkable configurable conceptual object that, depending on how you approach it, houses items for research and teaching, items that actually generate research; is a site for artistic interventions, experiments, projects; is an archive for media objects; is an archive for original works of digital art/literature along with their original platforms. It belongs equally in literature departments, art departments, media studies departments, history of technology programs, computer science departments, libraries and archives. The MAL is a "living archive" in the sense that, other than our stockpile of spare parts, everything in the lab functions and is meant to be turned on and used for tinkering, play, teaching, and research. It is also living in the sense that it is an ongoing, DIY project primarily run by and for the self-taught that continues to grow and change with every new influx of participants. In fact, one of the strengths of the lab is that there are almost no precedents for it and no clearly established set of best practices. The MAL's strongest collection is its historically important personal computers from the late 1970s through the 80s and 90s - computers such as the Apple II, Apple Lisa, and Apple Macintosh, as well as many early works of digital art/literature from the early 80s through the late 90s. If you'd like to know more about the MAL or if you'd like to donate, please visit our site: http://mediaarchaeologylab.com yours, Lori --- Lori Emerson Assistant Professor | Director, Media Archaeology Lab Department of English, University of Colorado at Boulder Hellems 101, 226 UCB, Boulder, CO 80309-0226 loriemerson.net | mediaarchaeologylab.com