[game_preservation] New MLA Format for 2009

[Devin Monnens]

I feel this has some relevance to us as preservationists. While there is no
'Game' listing, the new updates do include a section on medium:
http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/557/15/
*Publication Medium.* Every entry receives a medium of publication marker.
Most entries will be listed as Print or Web, but other possibilities include
Performance, DVD, or TV. Most of these markers will appear at the end of
entries; however, markers for Web sources are followed by the date of
access.

Sadly, listing it as 'DVD' or 'CD' doesn't let you know what platform it is
for! What if I am referencing the Stephen Jay Gould interview on Bully for
Brontosaurus interactive CD for Windows 95? I don't think this will run in
Vista. Or, for a better example, an Amiga CDROM?

I find this surprising because either a) MLA does not care about getting
software to run or b) they do not have a need to reference older digital
media. Their desire to remove URLs from web references seems to indicate
that they aren't that interested in getting the referenced source to run.
And after all, how can you fact-check a primary source such as an interview
with a dead man or an e-mail interview? You have to take it at face value.

-- 
Devin Monnens
www.deserthat.com

The sleep of Reason produces monsters.
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