A professor at my university has asked me to develop a digital media
collection for the students, which includes games and art works on
cd-roms. He recently made this request:
"I don't know to what degree you are looking into archival issues of these
older computer based works, but it may be worthwhile for the library to
keep a few older machines about--as it may be difficult to acquire them
later on... Along the same lines, you may want to begin building a
collection of the seminal computer games (Myst, Quake, Castle
Wolfenstein, Doom, Zork, Atari 2600...), as they are (as much as Artwork)
part of the history of Computer-based narrative/fiction... Many of these
pieces, and the hardware that run them, are cheaply available now but
could become unavailable in the next few years."
I spoke with my colleagues about preserving the technology for these types
of materials, but we are reluctant, not only because of space but because
of maintenance. Should someone need the computer once every five years,
how do we make sure the computer continues to work after such a long
period of non-use?
What are you doing to ensure continued access to the electronic media
materials you are buying for your art collections, or even for the general
collection? Does anyone have a plan, or know of a plan to archive the
technology as well as the materials? Do you have Collection Development
policies about purchasing such materials and providing continual access?
Are you transfering the materials from one format to another to ensure
access? Does this violate copyright?
Any help or insights about the issues, plans and policies will be greatly
appreciated! Thanks.
Peggy Keeran
Arts and Humanities Reference Librarian
Penrose Library
University of Denver
2150 E. Evans Ave.
Denver, CO 80208
Email: [log in to unmask]
Voice: (303) 871-3410
Fax: (303) 871-3446
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