2 Aug
2010
2 Aug
'10
12:46 p.m.
From: Randy Dawson
Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2010 12:59 AM
I am interested in any ideas, and models for
technology museums.
Currently, I am working with some guys on a project we
call VintageTek, a
museum of Tektronix, the technology, innovations and personalities that,
without glorification on my part, created, or enabled modern electronics.
We are aware of Boston Computer Museum and others, and
its easy to make
that a destination to see the evolution of computing in general across
several companies. Were not sure that a museum dedicated to one company,
Tek, and oscilloscopes (along with its original engineering workstations
and computer graphics systems) will be a success on its own.
Any curators out there care to throw in a few thoughts and stories, of how
you made a go of it?
The American Association of Museums has a great deal of material available
for free (as well as a huge lot more for paying members, but what you're
looking for is in the free stuff). The specific page to start with is
http://www.aam-us.org/aboutmuseums/
I encourage you to look over the documents there to get an idea of what
you need to do to get started.
I also encourage you to look into the possibility of a certificate program
or the like in museum studies in your area. (The University of Washington
has one, for example, which is roughly half the course work for the M. A.
program.) It's not necessary for everyone involved in the project to go
through such a program, but it's very helpful if at least one person does.
Rich Alderson
Vintage Computing Sr. Server Engineer
Vulcan, Inc.
505 5th Avenue S, Suite 900
Seattle, WA 98104
mailto:RichA at vulcan.com
mailto:RichA at LivingComputerMuseum.org
http://www.PDPplanet.org/
http://www.LivingComputerMuseum.org/