Computer Conservation Society

Next Events

London
14^th Dec 2023

Cray Computer Films

Historic Document Rescue

From time to time the Society is approached by people who have come into the possession of documents relevant to historic computers and who feel that they should “go to a good home”.

Unfortunately the Computer Conservation Society is no longer in a position to collect such material, though we can sometimes suggest a suitable home for it. If you have a need to dispose of historic material we suggest that you should first read our guide Archives and your Personal Papers.

In particular, we should stress that a list of the document titles is essential before any progress can be made.

Document Exchange within the CCS

Because CCS members use widely differing IT systems, difficulties sometimes arise when documents are sent between members. In an attempt to minimise such problems a page of guidance notes can be found here.

The web page also contains useful information for authors of articles in the CCS journal Resurrection.

News

November 2023

The CCS sends its congratulations to our good friends the LEO Society for their untiring work in developing awareness of the importance of LEO, the world’s first computer to be built for what we would would later come to call “Data Processing”.

Their latest project in conjunction with the Cambridge Centre for Computing History is called Virtual LEO 1 an app which allows users to look round the LEO 1 installation and wander at will through the machine room.

We were delighted to hear that Virtual LEO 1 was recently awarded 2^nd place (Highly commended) in the Charity project of the year category at the annual UK IT awards. The winner of this award was “Plant Heritage”.

Virtual LEO 1 displays the World’s first business computer in its room in J.Lyons headquarters building, Cadby Hall. Viewers of it can click on links to find out information and articles about the various parts of LEO and find out a bit about the history of the machine. The viewer can also look out of a window on either side, on one side Lyons vans can be seen in the yard. On the other side there is a view of the buildings on the other side of the road.

Virtual LEO 1 is freely available on post 2020 iPads and will soon be available on Android laptops.

October 2023

The Society has initiated a new award called the CCS DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD to acknowledge exceptional service to the Society. At our London meeting on the 12^th of October the first two awards were presented to Roger Johnson and Dik Leatherdale .

September 2023

Our good friends at The National Museum of Computing have arranged a series of lectures and other events. We are pleased to have been asked to publicise their program alongside our own list of forthcoming events Go to www.computerconservationsociety.org/lectures/current/lecture.htm and scroll down for the current programme.

The Computer Conservation Society was founded in 1989 as a joint venture between the British Computer Society and the Science Museum in London. It has subsequently become closely associated with the Science and Industry Museum in Manchester and The National Museum of Computing in Bletchley Park.

Our primary mission is to preserve historic computers, develop awareness of the history of computing, and encourage research. We run many specialised projects, organise public lecture series, and publish a regular journal.

Membership of the society is open to all. If you would like to join the society, please click here for more information.