A one-day workshop to be held at DHSI 2018

Time: 10:00am-4:00pm, Sunday June 10th
Location: Digital Scholarship Commons
3rd floor, Mearns Centre/McPherson Library
University of Victoria
Instructors: John Durno, Rich McCue, Matt Huculak
Demos, hardware support: Jacob Lower

Workshop Description

Preserving and studying artifacts from earlier computing eras presents interesting challenges as technologies obsolesce. These challenges are not uniform but instead vary depending on the nature of the technological environments from which the artifacts emerged. Drawing from materials in the University of Victoria collections and further afield, this workshop will provide an introduction to strategies for working with digital artifacts created with 1980s technology. Topics to be covered include recovering content from obsolete media, working with emulated computing environments, and the challenges (and rewards) of hardware preservation. Attendees will have an opportunity to work hands-on with floppy disks, install and configure emulators, and try out a selection of period computing equipment.

Outcomes

By the end of this workshop, you will have experience imaging floppy disks and working with disk images, installing and configuring emulators, and working with older (1980s) computing hardware.

Readings

Readings are optional but recommended.

Workshop Outline

Outline is only approximate and may be modified depending on specific interests of workshop participants

Software

This software will be used during the workshop.