CHM values our artifact donors and your effort to contact us. Thank you for considering CHM as the repository for your historical materials. In order to better serve our community CHM is implementing a new database. This is a long and involved process that requires full staff participation to move our information to the new system. For this reason, we will be temporarily severely limiting new donations of historical items. CHM greatly appreciates your generosity and commitment to preserving computer history. We look forward to working with you again once our new system is up and running.
How do I donate materials to the collection?
Can I mail or drop off a donation?
How are potential donations reviewed?
How long does it take for CHM to review donation offers?
How do I donate materials to the collection?
In order to better serve our community CHM is implementing a new database. This is a long and involved process that requires full staff participation to move our information to the new system. For this reason, we will be temporarily severely limiting new donations of historical items. CHM greatly appreciates your generosity and commitment to preserving computer history. We look forward to working with you again once our new system is up and running. Please, check back in a few months, if you are still interested in donating.
Can I mail or drop off a donation?
CHM does not accept unsolicited donations through the mail or in person. Item(s) mailed or dropped off at CHM will not be considered for inclusion in CHM’s collection.
How are potential donations reviewed?
Donation offers are reviewed by a team of curators, archivists, and museum registrars. The team are experts in computing history, archival practices, and preservation. All donation offers are reviewed based on historical interest as outlined in our Collecting Plan, condition and completeness of the item(s) offered, our ability to make the potential donation accessible to the public in a reasonable time frame, and the availability of resources required to store and care properly for the item(s). The sensitive nature of materials or copyright concerns may also factor into our decision.
How long does it take for CHM to review donation offers?
The team takes about a month to review donation offers. During the month we may also ask for additional details concerning the item(s) on offer. If your offer is accepted into the collection, our registrar will contact you to make arrangements for the items to come to CHM’s off-site storage facility (not our main headquarters in Mountain View, CA). When the item(s) reaches CHM, we will issue an Incoming Receipt. After we review the item(s) we will send out a Deed of Gift. The Deed of Gift legally transfers the property to CHM. Your copy of the Deed is proof that you donated the item(s) to CHM and can be used for tax purposes. If we fail to notify you within 30 days of your offer, we have reviewed the offer and decided the item(s) are duplicates items already in the collection or out-of-scope with our Collecting Plan.
From machines to source code, lab notebooks to business plans, our collecting scope is expansive with unique perspectives into the online world, entrepreneurship, and software.
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