“The museum” refers to the Roger Broughton Collection of Historical Computing Artefacts.  When we started this project [see below], we called it MOCA (in imitation of MOMA – a name familiar to us arty types) – Museum of Computing Artefacts; hence the ID being used to write these blog posts – nmoca.

The name has changed through usage in the last 18 months, partly to fit in with the general thrust of the project [see below], which is to preserve and to celebrate the history of computing, particularly at Newcastle University, and particularly with regard to educating those who wish to know.

For all I know, the name may change again, but one thing will not change: the inclusion of “Roger Broughton” in the full title. To learn more, see Roger’s original website, the intro to which explains all.

Somehow, we need to include another name: that of Professor Brian Randell of the School of Computing, who has not only donated or loaned dozens of valuable artefacts himself, but who has been the formidable driving force behind the entire project, since long before some of us joined it, in December 2016. However we haven’t yet found a way to name this “REBBRMOCA”.

“The project“: a group of 6 or 7 people, some full-time University staff, some retired (and therefore even more busy), are making a sustained effort to consolidate and to “curate” Roger’s collection, in his lamented absence. Thanks to help from the University’s computing service (NUIT) we have some space for the repository; thanks to the School of Computing we have display space in their new building; thanks to generous financial help from the School, NUIT, and not least the Catherine Cookson Foundation, we have been able to make considerable progress this year (2018).

If you have questions, please email comp-artefacts@ncl.ac.uk

Finally, for my own experimentation, here is a picture …