[game_preservation] Project Discussion: Oral Histories

[O'Donnell, Dean M]

Sorry, I subscribed and have been a bit inundated with other things, so only noticed this when it popped up just now.

Introduction:  I'm on the faculty at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in the Interactive Media and Game Development program.  We've been working on an archive that focuses on New England developers.  My colleague David Finkel, and our archivist, Rodney Obien spearhead that project.

The Oral History Project:  I work with oral histories.  Specifically, each year I train some students to collect and record them.  I work with Jason Scott on this (he's local to us), and he's been willing to host our raw footage while the students edit and compile by person and subject.  The work has gone slowly mostly because I'm still learning and I start with new students every year.

Next year we'll have 6 or 7 oral histories collected, which seems like enough to go "prime time" and set up a web page.  We'd welcome the backing of the IDGA and making it a joint effort of the IDGA and WPI seems like a perfectly reasonable way forward.  I have the students, the equipment, and the web hosting; the IDGA has developers.  We've been dealing with local developers and that can continue for awhile (Boston has a pretty good community), with work on how to expand beyond our area as part of next year's project.

I would be happy to head the this project for the IDGA as long as the list doesn't mind when every fall I call for volunteers or introductions to developers to be interviewed.

Best,
Dean

____________________________________________
Dean O'Donnell     Associate Director,
Interactive Media and Game Development
Dept. of Humanities and Arts   WPI
dodo at wpi.edu
Phone: 508-831-5947
Fax: 508-831-5932

From: game_preservation-bounces at igda.org [mailto:game_preservation-bounces at igda.org] On Behalf Of Andrew Armstrong
Sent: Friday, February 06, 2009 2:35 PM
To: IGDA Game Preservation SIG
Subject: Re: [game_preservation] Project Discussion: Oral Histories

I left this open but no one has replied. Another bump, we do have some new members.

This project is, really, a bit too practical for the SIG to do "by volunteer work" as all SIG's operate (with most of our work going on online). With no money, and no one seeking out sponsorship, donations, or funding, we don't have any equipment (nevermind manpower and transport) to do this actively, even though it is an excellent idea, and we'd likely be able to find interested developers to participate.

So, perhaps it can help by cataloguing other efforts in the area, preserving them on the Internet Archive, and helping logistically and with advertising the service. If anyone also did want to do histories through us somehow, having the final result freely available online or in an archive would be invaluable. This is tough to setup without people who are in industry available to be "on call" or to sign up, and without people who want to do the recordings in the first place! It's a lot of work on both sides (finding time for both, and possibly major travelling, preparing and researching, equipment, post-production...)

Therefore, this project is going no where with no active interest. I personally can put forward weekend time and possibly take days off to record things, but since I have no videocamera I can't help directly. I would like to investigate setting up a signup form for both sides - the interviewers and interviewees so we can get a good list of people (and their location, what they did) to do interviews with, and who to send, and get people talking this way. There is a possibility that this is better done informally, however, or maybe through the new IGDA site which is mainly forum based (with mailing lists possible, just really being forum posts being sent to accounts, with replies being allowed), and thus developers would easily be able to get involved with the SIG and discuss it on forums or via. PM's/email.

There was some possible interest from Dean O'Donnell from WPI, who is running an oral histories project with student help. Other then this I know of no proper active oral histories project, save Jason Scott's GET LAMP documentary, which is basically edited oral histories (which I hope he puts online in full :) ).

Andrew

Andrew Armstrong wrote:
This is coming on from our previous discussion over spring cleaning the SIG.

Oral Histories
Status: On Hold
Currently lead by: No one.
Short description: Interviews with industry people related to their past works. Brought up at GDC 2008, but currently has no assigned project lead.

Concerns raised previously:
- Aims of the histories, contents, etc.
- What to ask (I brought this up before)
- Who can do them

Someone to work on this or start organising a team of people would be good. Logistically this is the hardest project to manage, and technically we have no resources to fund it at all, meaning it requires heavy volunteer work.

People suggesting information, examples of existing histories done, ways to get this going, and so forth are welcome. Basically bring whatever you like to the table, it's an open discussion.

Andrew







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