[game_preservation] Project Discussion: Oral Histories

[Andrew Armstrong]

If they're text based, well, copies should be stored wherever possible 
(the IGDA wiki/site being one possible location, the Internet Archive 
can have a texts collection too, I'm sure Stanford, the UT Archive and 
other locations would welcome a copy).

Media like audio and video can be stored in the Internet Archives 
collections, since the IGDA hasn't got the bandwidth (or, really, backup 
plans) to host them directly. I don't know what other organisations 
accept videos and audio however.

Andrew

O'Donnell, Dean M wrote:

>

> My IGDA account is dodonnell.  I'll make sure my students join the 

> IGDA (they should anyway) so they can edit the wiki.

>

>  

>

> Are you suggesting hosting the interviews on the wiki itself, or at 

> some other archive (Stanford?)

>

>  

>

> 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 3:06 PM

> *To:* IGDA Game Preservation SIG

> *Subject:* Re: [game_preservation] Project Discussion: Oral Histories

>

>  

>

> It'd be a pleasure for you to take on the project if Henry agrees :) 

> You'd need to have an IGDA.org account to edit the wiki, which no 

> doubt would have the IGDA's information on how to get involved (for 

> developers) which you might need to sort.

>

> Hopefully there'll be other efforts in the future which the project 

> can keep up with - like Rachel's contributions, and other's. I doubt 

> there'd be any competition if anyone else wanted to "use the list" of 

> available developers - there's more developers then people working in 

> all the game history community :)

>

> I can check with someone at the IGDA about putting a call out in a 

> newsletter (which goes out monthly) or as a news piece, when the 

> appropriate time comes up to publicise it - you can obviously actually 

> write the details if we're able to do this :) Feel free to make edits 

> to the wiki, or suggest how you want it to work here first if you like 

> (I can do wiki editing as needed of course too, I do so for the other 

> projects).

>

> For hosting, I'd love a mirror of whatever files be made available on 

> the Internet Archive, we have collections for interviews, which these 

> would be awesome to add to. :) It'd be all credit to your team though, 

> and rights reserved as you'd like, of course. It mainly helps make it 

> available, which was one of the projects aims when initially thought out.

>

> Andrew

>

> O'Donnell, Dean M wrote:

>

> 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 <mailto: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> 

> [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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