A well-known/proven preservationist in Oklahoma?

[jmccorm]

SHORT VERSION:

I'm looking for someone in Oklahoma (Northeastern area) who has some track record as a software preservationist for Atari software (ability to handle a small quantity of 3.5" and 5.25" IBM floppies is a plus) who will take ownership of several hundred disks and archive them and release them to the public as appropriate. Also some assorted books, disks, papers, manuals, etc.

 

LONG VERSION:

I've got a specialized career in IT. Interestingly enough, my early days with the Atari 8-bit were a great early career prep, and I was surprised to discover that one of my peers also shared that same Atari 8-bit childhood experience! So I ended up being in one of those jobs where if you have the chops and you find the right company, you're invaluable and they'll pay a princely sum for your services. But if you are out there in the job market and looking for a new place to work, there aren't going to be a large number of matches. What matches exist are almost certain to be in a large city, and it'll probably be with a Fortune 100 company or the US government.

 

Recently, my current employer offered thousands of its employees a pretty good employment buyout package that becomes even more generous based on salary, job tier, and seniority. I'm almost certain to accept, if just to avoid the hellscape that results when most of the people leave a department and all the other departments you work with on a day-to-day basis are equally stripped of their talent and institutional knowledge. But I'm not in a city with a large amount of IT opportunities. I'm preparing for a move to another state, but I've got way way too much stuff. I have to pair things down, and the Atari media is part of what I have boxed up that takes a pretty good amount of room.

 

BTW: There are a few Atari and IBM disks which look BBS related that (as a former Sysop) might contain who knows what, but I'd appreciate seeing those pulled out and converted for my own personal review. I'm hoping for the off chance that my custom Atari 8-bit "Utopia" BBS software can be located, or we might find the source code to some of the doors / modules I created for both Atari 8-bit and IBM (AVB, SLAVE, SLAVE-II, and a few others I know that I've forgotten).

 

Other than that, I'm not too particular about the rest of the media. Somehow I ended up with one or two other people's Atari 8-bit software collections, so there will be some public domain software and a mix of official and "unofficial" copies of commercial software.

 

I'm hoping that my collected media (disks, books, papers) can still be of service to a known preservationist and the community.

 

Let me know,

jmccorm

[_The Doctor__]

Sorry to hear you employer is changing on you like that Josh. I am very far from you though.... Oklahoma, wow... by the time I get to family near the peak in Colorado it would be too late.

Edited October 13, 2018 by _The Doctor__

[Kyle22]

I am very interested in any BBS related stuff you may have.

 

[Mclaneinc]

The old job scene is soo different these days, to be honest glad I'm out of it, management is now so much more cut throat than it used to be and just about every sector is being changed. You sound like a man with a plan Josh so the best of luck to you, sorry to hear its all up sticks and move but I hope you find the guy / gal who can help you with the archiving of the software and thank you for wanting to make sure the public get hold of it..

 

Best wishes

 

Paul...