[game_preservation] Kotaku: Videogame History MuseumKickstarter short on funds

[Martin Goldberg]

I honestly don't think the two need to be mutually exclusive
(research/archive vs. collector) and that it's more that certain
spectrums place more emphasis on one over the other.  I try and treat
both (digital and physical) equally important in the E2M archive.
Even in digital, besides the data, it includes producing quality scans
of all packaging aspects as well for digital preservation.

Some of the things that can be learned from the "collector" spectrum
however, as far as preservation, are upkeep and restoration
(functional and cosmetic).  I've given lectures on this aspect over
the years and have found the practices invaluable in my efforts.
Everything from always remove the shrink wrap (it does shrink as it
gets older and will cause the box to warp and crease) to using peanut
butter to remove grease pen markings on bare cartridges.  I look at
the entire aspect as not much different than preserving a rare map,
restoring an important painting, and making sure an old that '66
Galaxy 500 convertible is purring properly.

As for Digital Press, they are certainly coming more from the personal
collection aspect (where I originally came from as well before moving
to an actual archive format) with experience in public display.  I'm
not sure they have much experience in the actual digital preservation,
nor in organizing and preserving in an archival manner for actual
research - which are the stated goals of their new museum.  If they do
manage to get the money, I hope they invest time in actually learning
those aspects or at the least bring in an outside expert to help.


On Tue, Aug 23, 2011 at 8:18 AM, Devin Monnens <dmonnens at gmail.com> wrote:

> No, you're absolutely right, and this was something that came up in the

> conversation awhile back (how a lot of museums don't feel operability is

> necessary). The trouble with collectors is the value that is placed on the

> object is dictated by its condition, and that often includes the object

> being factory sealed. Whether or not that factory-sealed object will still

> have worth another 10 years from now when the contents become inoperable

> doesn't seem to be part of the equation. As a researcher, I find the

> contents of the work to be more valuable than the condition of the object,

> but I am also a collector, so I have a significant number of factory sealed

> objects (nothing that's one-of-a-kind, however, unless Softpres wants a

> sealed copy of Barney Bear Goes to Space, which I think has already been

> preserved). Digital Press are collectors. I would be interested in knowing

> what their philosophy is.

>

> On Tue, Aug 23, 2011 at 6:08 AM, Christian Bartsch <cb at softpres.org> wrote:

>>

>> I don't know if I should say something because everyone will call my

>> opinion biased... But what sense does it make to put game boxes on the

>> shelves when the content (bits & bytes) is rotting away? I actually have

>> seen so many "museums" all over the world (mainly judging by websites), but

>> only very few actually care about the contents of their assets. Some of them

>> actually look like huge collections that grew beyond something that can be

>> handled privately, but I often miss the professional approach to preserve

>> what was meant to be seen by the user (=the program).

>> We have developed preservation technology for about a decade now and I am

>> really curious how the actual contents are being processed and analysed. I

>> am not trying to upset anyone here, but if there's another tech available

>> for e.g. floppy disk preservation, I'd really like to see and learn from it.

>> This is not meant to undermine efforts or discourage anyone. But I wonder

>> if the majority actually knows how digital preservation works. Again,

>> apologies for being so direct...

>> --

>> Christian Bartsch

>> The Software Preservation Society

>> http://www.softpres.org

>> On 22 Aug 2011, at 21:50, Martin Goldberg wrote:

>>

>> I'm just going by the link Alan posted.  Not the sort of content

>> quality I would expect from a place championing preservation.

>>

>>

>> On Mon, Aug 22, 2011 at 2:48 PM, Alex Handy <alex at themade.org> wrote:

>>

>> I think that's a different museum. There's rather a lot here in the SF

>>

>> Bay Area these days. There's the MADE (my group), the Digital Games

>>

>> Museum, founded by Judith formerly of the Computer History Museum, and

>>

>> now there's the DigitPress guys, who are on Kickstarter right now.

>>

>> Just to keep everyone clear on who's who.

>>

>>

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>

>

>

> --

> Devin Monnens

> www.deserthat.com

>

> The sleep of Reason produces monsters.

>

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-- 
Marty