Note: This page is for those wishing to donate items. If you wish to make a financial donation, please see our Make a Donation page for details on ways you can do that.

If you would like to donate to our collection, please read the information below which will explain how you can do so.

If you would like to donate an item to The National Museum of Computing, please contact us at donations@tnmoc.org. Please attach images of the item/s and a list of the item/s - this will speed up the donations process.

We would welcome documentation to go with the items as well as any relevant paperwork that tells the history of the artefact. We would also accept any personal information from the owner which supports the donation such as stories, oral testimony, photographs etc. 

Our process for accepting or rejecting is detailed, and because space is at a premium, we will be pragmatic about our decision to either accept or reject the item/s.

What happens next?

  • Our team will go through your offer and contact you with a response

  • We may ask for more information such as the condition of the object and further supporting information depending on the item/s being offered

  • If we agree to the donation, you will then need to decide whether you wish to securely package and post the item to us (if applicable), or whether you wish to drop it off at the Museum

  • In some cases, we may have agreed a donation a while ago. If this is the case, your donation is still expected to come into the Museum, so please make arrangements for this to happen and email us at donations@tnmoc.org  so that we are aware that we are to expect the item/s

  • We aim to get back to requests within 2-3 weeks, however in busy periods, it can take up to 6 weeks.

  • If we are unable to take the item/s for whatever reason, we will advise you of other Museums that may be worth contacting to see if they will accept your item

  • Your donation entitles you to come and visit the Museum for free - we will send you further information about this when we have accepted your item/s.

Important: we cannot accept offer of donations through a phone call - all offers must be emailed to donations@tnmoc.org

We also DO NOT accept unsolicited donations. Any item that turns up at the Museum without having gone through the donations process will be removed and returned to the owner or disposed of if the Museum sees fit. We also do not have appointments available for you to bring your item on an ad hoc basis, the Senior Curator is unable to make these appointments unless it has been pre-arranged via email and the Museum has made this appointment for you.

What sort of thing are we looking for?

This is not a definitive list but gives you an idea of the sorts of things we are interested in. If your item is not included in this list, please contact us at donations@tnmoc.org if you think we would be interested.

General Items

  • Educational / Creative software - for 8 / 16 bit micros

  • Ephemera, software and documentation related to significant domestic computer / electronic products and programmes

  • Books and computer related magazines from the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s including system manuals Note: current storage limitations mean we cannot accept large collections of books or magazines at the moment but smaller / single items may be OK

  • If you are an author or publisher of a computer related book, a donated copy for our library would be gladly received.

Software for older systems

  • We are also looking for software to run on the older systems we have working / on display in the Museum. The systems we are particularly interested in are: Elliott 803, 903, ICL 1900/2900, ICL System 25, IBM 1130, WITCH / Harwell Dekatron Computer, ICT 1301, but we welcome software for others. The programs can be on paper tape, punched cards, tape, disc or even a printed listing. Why not come along with your software and see it running again!

  • We would especially welcome software for older Research Machines systems like 380Z / 480Z.

  • Any system software; Compilers, Assemblers, engineer test programs, demonstration programs.

  • Any user written software, especially if it can produce output to printers, plotters etc. and thus be good for demonstrating the systems capabilities.

Other

  • Unusual programming languages such as MIRFAC

  • Old MoD computers such as COSMOS and AMOS

  • MOSAIC which was a direct descendant of Pilot ACE built by GPO for RRE

  • Description of the Culham GHOST graphics library for KDF9.

  • Elliott 920 computer (Military version of the Elliott 903)

  • Circuit Schematic for the Marconi Transistorised Automatic Computer (TAC) Peripheral Controller for an interactive terminal like a Friden Flexowriter.

  • Non-Linear Elements (an electronic component which is a cross between a varistor and a thermistor) as used in the Marconi TAC

  • Any detailed documentation (circuit diagrams, hardware or programming manuals etc.) on the Marconi Myriad or the Marconi Locus 16.

  • Any Marconi Myriad hardware - even the odd circuit board.

  • Documentation on the Royal Navy Combined Tactical Trainer (TNMoC has the “Coastline Generator” part of this).

  • Official Teletype spare parts for model ASR33 and official Teletype tools (inc. wire gauges, spring balances, spring hooks, bending tools etc.).

  • Anything concerning the early Ferranti large computers as they were all historic in their own ways (e.g. Mk1 was the world's first commercially sold computer, Atlas was the world's first computer with virtual (paged) memory).

This list will be updated fairly regularly so please check back often. Last updated November 2023.