"Transformation Age" Preserved in Computer History Museum’s New Research and Archives Facility

Mountain View, California  |  February 14, 2017

Tasked with the unique job of preserving the global transformation brought about by computing and innovation hubs like Silicon Valley, the Computer History Museum (CHM) has opened the Shustek Center. The third major real estate acquisition in CHM’s history, the Shustek Center is named for CHM founder and chairman Len Shustek and houses climate-controlled storage for digital and archival collections, and digitization workstations. With study space for visiting scholars, the Shustek Center promotes greater access and preservation of computer history.

At 50,000 square feet, the center also houses the Bernard L. Peuto Software Preservation Lab, part of CHM’s recently launched Center for Software History. The Software Preservation Lab is a dedicated laboratory where curators process and read the Museum’s historical software collections in a variety of formats from paper tape and punched cards to magnetic disks and more. Once read, files are stored in CHM’s digital repository for long-term preservation. “Our world-class collection, which numbers more than 75,000 physical objects and more than 150,000 items of code and recorded media, helps preserve Silicon Valley history and the transformation that technology has had on all our lives,” said John C. Hollar, CHM president and chief executive officer.

Of particular interest to academics and hobbyists alike, the Shustek Center’s Research Room is open by appointment to anyone eager to delve into the CHM's unique holdings.

About the Computer History Museum

The Computer History Museum in Mountain View, California, is a nonprofit organization with a four-decade history as the world’s leading institution exploring the history of computing and its ongoing impact on society. The Museum is dedicated to the preservation and celebration of computer history and is home to the largest international collection of computing artifacts in the world, encompassing computer hardware, software, documentation, ephemera, photographs, and moving images.

CHM’s signature exhibitions are Make Software: Change the World! and Revolution: The First 2000 Years of Computing. Revolution is described by USA Today as “the Valley’s answer to the Smithsonian. Other current exhibits include Thinking Big: Ada, Countess of Lovelace and Where To? A History of Autonomous Vehicles. The Museum’s Exponential Center, dedicated to entrepreneurship and innovation, and Center for Software History lead research in their respective fields and provide new insights on the forces of change that computing in all its forms has unleashed.

For more information and updates, call (650) 810-1059, visit www.computerhistory.org, check us out on Facebook, follow @computerhistory on Twitter, and read the Museum blog @chm.

Press Contacts

PR Team
pr@computerhistory.org
(650) 810-1059

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