The Monash University Museum of Computing History: Ten Years On - History of Computing: Learning from the Past - page 225

different sites. The tour can also be undertaken as a self-guided individual activity
using tour notes from the website. A list of suggested sites and more extensive notes
can be accessed through the Computing in Melbourne: A Historical Tour website [14].
These tours commence at the MMoCH exhibition at Caulfield campus and then the
tour usually follows the tram route from Caulfield, into St Kilda Road, then the Royal
Botanical Gardens, into the City precinct. The tour then continues with a visit to the
computer exhibition at Melbourne Museum featuring CSIRAC, the only remaining 1 st
generation stored program computer [15, 16]. The tour then concludes with a visit to
Melbourne University to discuss the first Internet connections in Australia. The dif-
ferent sites can be varied for the tour. The sites do not necessarily have original com-
puting equipment but are used as an introduction to a related computing history topic.
Usually these tours, which are free, are run on a weekend but are also available by
special arrangement. This has been an interesting exercise for both the guides and
participants. Different people attend the tours including current academic staff, post-
graduate and undergraduate students as well as many retired IT professionals. The
conversations stimulated by the tour notes and information have introduced many new
topics and sources of information for further research.
6 Future Directions
The Monash Museum of Computing History future development is directed towards
creating a virtual museum presentation. This on-line educational environment will be
a learning space where students and other interested users can explore the history of
computing with a special focus on Australian computing history and Monash Univer-
sity's part in this history. This facility will provide another component in the Mu-
seum's different physical and virtual presentations and link its research program and
collection with on-line visitors who can participate in different forms of access for
varying purposes. It will be a virtual space on the Internet that provides a multimedia
portal into the history of the development of computers including both the technologi-
cal advances and the social implications of this technological change within an Aus-
tralian context. The project will use a range of resources to give the visitor a variety of
information sources including in-depth text-based research information or interactive
participation using different media including three-D imaging and original moving or
still images. The portal will also give access to view the physical collections and dis-
plays at Monash University. The site will provide different levels of access that ad-
dress the specific needs and internet literacy of the visitor. It is anticipated that the
project will be used as a resource for different levels of academic users, remote visi-
tors and general interest users and respond to their differing needs. Students would
also have educational resources and teaching material available to support their stud-
ies. Another feature of the Museum will be an interactive component where visitors
can contribute their own knowledge and experiences to our reference base.
The basic level of access would be through a timeline which gives linkage points to
topics mentioned in the timeline text. The timeline provides all visitors with a sum-
mary of the narrative of the overall topic, the beginnings of stored memory computers
within the context of the history of calculating and the use of numbers with special
reference to Australian developments. The timeline is then the starting point for a