[game_preservation] PhD - Preservation of Computer Games, Loughborough University

[Melanie Swalwell]

Hi all,

This reached me by a long and circuitous route, so I don't know any further details (but it looks like it closes tomorrow).  No doubt some of you are on the Digital Preservation list from which it came.

As your friendly list-moderator though, I was wondering a couple of things.  Do we have anyone on this list who knows more/can speak to this?  Is the studentship part of an established/emerging research programme at Loughborough, on digital preservation?  Are there other game preservation initiatives happening there, or is this an emergent research direction?  (If so, its great to see.)  What about at other UK/European universities?  I'm asking partly out of self-interest, because I'm heading to the UK and Europe from next month, and partly because I'm keen to know what other university teams are working in the software preservation area, as opposed to digital preservation more generally.

To follow on: 
This division between software preservation and digital preservation, while not entirely arbitrary, is also one I wonder about.  Am I correct in perceiving a separation?  I have been musing on this for a while now, wondering whether there is not a broadening of digital preservation endeavours happening at present, to include software preservation?  My perception is that this could be the case, though I'm aware I am not in a very expert position to make this call.

I'm wondering what other people think?  Are these two areas of interest and activity coming closer together?  Is it already happening?  Or is it yet to happen?  

It seems like there are lots of groups who look at many similar issues - eg. librarians, archivists, museum people, variable media art ppl, historians of technology, people specifically concerned with games preservation (us).  I see stacks of calls for papers, conferences, seminars etc dealing with preservation issues from these other angles, and I often think games_pres people would have a lot to offer, and probably lots to learn from these other approaches too.  Maybe this is naive on my part and these groups don't have much to say to each other, being far too busy with their own areas of responsibility.  I'd like to think this isn't so.

Interested to hear peoples' thoughts on this.  Do you think it makes sense to create links with other digital preservation efforts?  Have such groups shown interest in game or software preservation in the past?  If not, why not?  Are they just (still) putting software preservation in the "too hard" basket? - as has been said to me on a number of occasions, "we want to learn to walk before we try to run".  Where are the opportunities for such linkages/coalitions?

Melanie

________________________________

From: Digital-Preservation Announcement and Information List
[mailto:DIGITAL-PRESERVATION at JISCMAIL.AC.UK] On Behalf Of Najla Semple
Sent: 02 February 2007 08:24
To: DIGITAL-PRESERVATION at JISCMAIL.AC.UK
Subject: PhD - Preservation of Computer Games



The following PhD announcement may be of interest to members of the
list:

Loughborough University

Preservation of Computer Games

Full-time studentship

Award worth L10,500 per annum, including tuition fees.

Registration either on April 1 2007 or July 1 2007

Background:

Loughborough University is offering a full-time research studentship in
the Department of Information Science. The scholarship is available for
up to three years, dependent on satisfactory academic progress and is
open to [both international and UK/EU or just UK/EU?]

Research Context:

There are no coherent systems currently in the UK for preserving
computer games. It is not clear whether producers preserve their
products when they are no longer commercially viable or to what extent
traditional preservation institutions such as libraries, museums or
archives are involved. The UK Science Museum has some involvement and
there is Internet-based activity, with various websites providing access
to older games. However, these websites may not be collecting and
providing access legally and they may only be storing rather than
actively preserving them. They may be relying on games players to
maintain obsolete platforms. Legal deposit laws do not generally extend
to computer games and this position may not change.

Research Aims:

* To investigate perceptions of the cultural, educational and
social

value of games amongst researchers and preservation institutions;

* To assess if and how computer games are currently being
preserved

and identify any barriers to preservation, if appropriate;

* To identify possible approaches to overcoming barriers to

preservation, if appropriate.

The proposed outcomes of this PhD research are to develop:

* A clear understanding of the cultural, educational and social

value of computer games and how and if they are currently preserved;

* Recommendations on whether, and to what extent, computer games


should be preserved for current and future scholars.

The Department of Information Science:

DIS was established in 1972 and has a national and international
reputation for its research ethos, with several formal research groups
providing the major foci for activity. There are currently 20 full-time
research students studying in the Department. Further information about
the Department can be found on its website
[http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/dis/].

Applications:

The closing date for applications is Friday March 23rd 2007.

Informal enquiries about the research are welcomed, and should be
directed to either Dr Adrienne Muir [A.Muir at lboro.ac.uk] or Dr James
Dearnley [j.a.dearnley at lboro.ac.uk].

Application forms are available from:

Mrs Irene Martindale

Research Administrator

Department of Information Science

Loughborough University

Loughborough

LE11 3TU

Email: i.martindale at lboro.ac.uk

Phone: +44 1509 223054


Najla Semple
Executive Secretary
Digital Preservation Coalition
Innovation Centre
York Science Park
Heslington
YO10 5DG

e: najla at dpconline.org
t: +44 (0) 1904 435 362


-- 
Ian Welch

Timetable: http://www.mcs.vuw.ac.nz/~ian/calendar.html
Contact details: http://www.mcs.vuw.ac.nz/~ian

Dr Melanie Swalwell
Media Studies Programme
School of English, Film, Theatre, and Media Studies
Victoria University of Wellington
New Zealand

ph:  +64 4 463 7446
fax: +64 4 463 5091 
melanie.swalwell at vuw.ac.nz

VUW homepage http://www.vuw.ac.nz/seft/media-studies/staff/melanieswalwell.aspx
"Cast-offs from the Golden Age" http://www.vectorsjournal.org/issues/03_issue/goldenage/recollection.php
NZTronix, the blog http://www.nztronix.org.nz