Company archives of 1980s-1990s computer game companies?
Dear colleagues and list members, This is a question that has kept me busy for quite some time, yet I am afraid I might have missed some crucial bit of information, and this is why I would like to address it to you. Are there any preservation institutions (archives, museums etc., apart from The Strong Museum / National Museum of Play in Rochester/NY) that host either company archives of computer game companies or personal papers of people involved in the production and marketing of home computer games in the 1980s and early 1990s? As I already mentioned on this list back in February, I am doing a post-doc research project on the transnational history of (non-commercial, low scale) home computer games piracy before the mass availability of the Internet, and, of course, the perspective of the back-then games industry is crucial in this question. Of course, the industry back then was extremely volatile - when companies went bankrupt, the last thing they thought about was preserving their archives (in the case of Psygnosis, for example, as far as I know everything was simply dumped). And those very few 1980s companies which are still active are very seclusive about their archives (which is sort-of understandable, given the retromania of today and their possible hopes of reviving/porting old titles). Nevertheless, the papers of Broderbund, Sierra On-Line, and a couple of other companies luckily ended up at The Strong - and to my knowledge, this is the only public institution that hosts materials like these. But maybe I missed some essential info? Are there any other holdings I am not aware of, particularly concerning the European games industry? I would be very thankful for any hints (as well as for contacts to former game studio and/or publisher/distributor folks who still might have kept their business papers). Best wishes, Gleb -- Dr. Gleb J. Albert Historisches Seminar, Universität Zürich Forschergruppe "Medien und Mimesis" Universität Zürich Historisches Seminar Culmannstr. 1 CH-8006 Zürich Switzerland Tel. +41-446346187 <http://uzh.academia.edu/GlebJAlbert> <http://www.fg-mimesis.de> Review editor: H-Soz-Kult, review team "History of Knowledge" - <http://www.hsozkult.de>
I'll let the museum folks on the list speak to there own holdings, but in my estimation the key figure in the American history of software piracy, from the industry perspective, is Kenneth Wasch, who founded and administrated the Software Publishers Association beginning in the early-mid 80s. One of their founding agendas was to deal with software piracy and they were responsible for the Open Letter to Sysops printed in Compute and a couple other computer enthusiast magazines in the mid 80s. As far as I know, no one has done an oral history with Wasch and the SPA's papers haven't been collected. I was first turned onto the SPA from materials in Doug Carlston's papers at the Strong (Doug held an executive role in the organization). The stuff in his papers is amazing--details of correspondence with the FBI, accounts of undercover stings Wasch did on computer retail shops, info on legal threats made to kids running local piracy operations. Chances are if there was any cooperation btw US and European organizations with regard to piracy, it would have gone through the SPA (especially since the SPA's audit was all consumer software, not just games). If you want to try and get ahold of Wasch, or chat about any of this further, drop me an email off last. Best, Laine On Sun, Sep 9, 2018, 12:53 AM Gleb J. Albert <gleb.albert@uzh.ch> wrote:
Dear colleagues and list members,
This is a question that has kept me busy for quite some time, yet I am afraid I might have missed some crucial bit of information, and this is why I would like to address it to you.
Are there any preservation institutions (archives, museums etc., apart from The Strong Museum / National Museum of Play in Rochester/NY) that host either company archives of computer game companies or personal papers of people involved in the production and marketing of home computer games in the 1980s and early 1990s?
As I already mentioned on this list back in February, I am doing a post-doc research project on the transnational history of (non-commercial, low scale) home computer games piracy before the mass availability of the Internet, and, of course, the perspective of the back-then games industry is crucial in this question. Of course, the industry back then was extremely volatile - when companies went bankrupt, the last thing they thought about was preserving their archives (in the case of Psygnosis, for example, as far as I know everything was simply dumped). And those very few 1980s companies which are still active are very seclusive about their archives (which is sort-of understandable, given the retromania of today and their possible hopes of reviving/porting old titles).
Nevertheless, the papers of Broderbund, Sierra On-Line, and a couple of other companies luckily ended up at The Strong - and to my knowledge, this is the only public institution that hosts materials like these. But maybe I missed some essential info? Are there any other holdings I am not aware of, particularly concerning the European games industry?
I would be very thankful for any hints (as well as for contacts to former game studio and/or publisher/distributor folks who still might have kept their business papers).
Best wishes, Gleb
-- Dr. Gleb J. Albert Historisches Seminar, Universität Zürich Forschergruppe "Medien und Mimesis"
Universität Zürich Historisches Seminar Culmannstr. 1 CH-8006 Zürich Switzerland
Tel. +41-446346187 <http://uzh.academia.edu/GlebJAlbert> <http://www.fg-mimesis.de>
Review editor: H-Soz-Kult, review team "History of Knowledge" - <http://www.hsozkult.de> _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
-- Laine Nooney <http://www.lainenooney.com/> MCC <http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/mcc/> @ NYU <http://www.nyu.edu/> Assistant Professor -Need to make an appt? Click, don't email: https://bit.ly/2GIHuK0 -Probably typed by voice recognition, so please cherish typos -Stop email nonsense: http://emailcharter.org
Al Alcorn, co-founder of Atari, informs me that the Stanford University Libraries has a collection of documents of Silicon Valley game companies. Leslie Berlin <https://web.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/berlin.html> or Henry Lowood <https://people.stanford.edu/lowood/> may be good contacts re: this. _________________________ Brian A. Berg / bberg@StanfordAlumni.org Berg Software Design 14500 Big Basin Way, Suite F, Saratoga, CA 95070 USA Voice: 408.741.5010 / Cell: 408.568.2505 Consulting: Flash Memory/USB/Storage/Patents visit the Storage Cornucopia: www.bswd.com FMS Technical Chair: www.FlashMemorySummit.com IEEE Milestone <http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Milestones:List_of_IEEE_Milestones> Coordinator for Region 6 <http://www.ieee-region6.org/> IEEE SCV Section <http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/scv/> Past Chair / IEEE-CNSV <http://www.CaliforniaConsultants.org> Board Director IEEE Silicon Valley Tech History Committee <http://www.SiliconValleyHistory.com/> Chair On Sat, Sep 8, 2018 at 9:53 PM Gleb J. Albert <gleb.albert@uzh.ch> wrote:
Dear colleagues and list members,
This is a question that has kept me busy for quite some time, yet I am afraid I might have missed some crucial bit of information, and this is why I would like to address it to you.
Are there any preservation institutions (archives, museums etc., apart from The Strong Museum / National Museum of Play in Rochester/NY) that host either company archives of computer game companies or personal papers of people involved in the production and marketing of home computer games in the 1980s and early 1990s?
As I already mentioned on this list back in February, I am doing a post-doc research project on the transnational history of (non-commercial, low scale) home computer games piracy before the mass availability of the Internet, and, of course, the perspective of the back-then games industry is crucial in this question. Of course, the industry back then was extremely volatile - when companies went bankrupt, the last thing they thought about was preserving their archives (in the case of Psygnosis, for example, as far as I know everything was simply dumped). And those very few 1980s companies which are still active are very seclusive about their archives (which is sort-of understandable, given the retromania of today and their possible hopes of reviving/porting old titles).
Nevertheless, the papers of Broderbund, Sierra On-Line, and a couple of other companies luckily ended up at The Strong - and to my knowledge, this is the only public institution that hosts materials like these. But maybe I missed some essential info? Are there any other holdings I am not aware of, particularly concerning the European games industry?
I would be very thankful for any hints (as well as for contacts to former game studio and/or publisher/distributor folks who still might have kept their business papers).
Best wishes, Gleb
-- Dr. Gleb J. Albert Historisches Seminar, Universität Zürich Forschergruppe "Medien und Mimesis"
Universität Zürich Historisches Seminar Culmannstr. 1 CH-8006 Zürich Switzerland
Tel. +41-446346187 <http://uzh.academia.edu/GlebJAlbert> <http://www.fg-mimesis.de>
Review editor: H-Soz-Kult, review team "History of Knowledge" - <http://www.hsozkult.de> _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
The Library of Congress has a strong collection as well. Debbie Douglas Deborah G. Douglas, Ph.D., Director of Collections and Curator of Science and Technology, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA - from my mobile device On Sep 9, 2018, at 5:11 PM, Brian Berg <brianberg@gmail.com<mailto:brianberg@gmail.com>> wrote: Al Alcorn, co-founder of Atari, informs me that the Stanford University Libraries has a collection of documents of Silicon Valley game companies. Leslie Berlin<https://web.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/berlin.html> or Henry Lowood<https://people.stanford.edu/lowood/> may be good contacts re: this. _________________________ Brian A. Berg / bberg@StanfordAlumni.org<mailto:bberg@StanfordAlumni.org> Berg Software Design 14500 Big Basin Way, Suite F, Saratoga, CA 95070 USA Voice: 408.741.5010 / Cell: 408.568.2505 Consulting: Flash Memory/USB/Storage/Patents visit the Storage Cornucopia: www.bswd.com<http://www.bswd.com> FMS Technical Chair: www.FlashMemorySummit.com<http://www.FlashMemorySummit.com> IEEE Milestone<http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Milestones:List_of_IEEE_Milestones> Coordinator for Region 6<http://www.ieee-region6.org/> IEEE SCV Section<http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/scv/> Past Chair / IEEE-CNSV<http://www.CaliforniaConsultants.org> Board Director IEEE Silicon Valley Tech History Committee<http://www.SiliconValleyHistory.com/> Chair [https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0BziWcipiMNJkZV9CdXg2YjJhQUk&export=download] On Sat, Sep 8, 2018 at 9:53 PM Gleb J. Albert <gleb.albert@uzh.ch<mailto:gleb.albert@uzh.ch>> wrote: Dear colleagues and list members, This is a question that has kept me busy for quite some time, yet I am afraid I might have missed some crucial bit of information, and this is why I would like to address it to you. Are there any preservation institutions (archives, museums etc., apart from The Strong Museum / National Museum of Play in Rochester/NY) that host either company archives of computer game companies or personal papers of people involved in the production and marketing of home computer games in the 1980s and early 1990s? As I already mentioned on this list back in February, I am doing a post-doc research project on the transnational history of (non-commercial, low scale) home computer games piracy before the mass availability of the Internet, and, of course, the perspective of the back-then games industry is crucial in this question. Of course, the industry back then was extremely volatile - when companies went bankrupt, the last thing they thought about was preserving their archives (in the case of Psygnosis, for example, as far as I know everything was simply dumped). And those very few 1980s companies which are still active are very seclusive about their archives (which is sort-of understandable, given the retromania of today and their possible hopes of reviving/porting old titles). Nevertheless, the papers of Broderbund, Sierra On-Line, and a couple of other companies luckily ended up at The Strong - and to my knowledge, this is the only public institution that hosts materials like these. But maybe I missed some essential info? Are there any other holdings I am not aware of, particularly concerning the European games industry? I would be very thankful for any hints (as well as for contacts to former game studio and/or publisher/distributor folks who still might have kept their business papers). Best wishes, Gleb -- Dr. Gleb J. Albert Historisches Seminar, Universität Zürich Forschergruppe "Medien und Mimesis" Universität Zürich Historisches Seminar Culmannstr. 1 CH-8006 Zürich Switzerland Tel. +41-446346187 <http://uzh.academia.edu/GlebJAlbert> <http://www.fg-mimesis.de> Review editor: H-Soz-Kult, review team "History of Knowledge" - <http://www.hsozkult.de> _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org<http://sigcis.org>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org<http://sigcis.org>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
The collection at the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, NY is also worth a visit. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Center_for_the_History_of_Elec... Amit Ray iPhoned On Sep 9, 2018, at 6:07 PM, Deborah Douglas <ddouglas@mit.edu<mailto:ddouglas@mit.edu>> wrote: The Library of Congress has a strong collection as well. Debbie Douglas Deborah G. Douglas, Ph.D., Director of Collections and Curator of Science and Technology, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA - from my mobile device On Sep 9, 2018, at 5:11 PM, Brian Berg <brianberg@gmail.com<mailto:brianberg@gmail.com>> wrote: Al Alcorn, co-founder of Atari, informs me that the Stanford University Libraries has a collection of documents of Silicon Valley game companies. Leslie Berlin<https://web.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/berlin.html> or Henry Lowood<https://people.stanford.edu/lowood/> may be good contacts re: this. _________________________ Brian A. Berg / bberg@StanfordAlumni.org<mailto:bberg@StanfordAlumni.org> Berg Software Design 14500 Big Basin Way, Suite F, Saratoga, CA 95070 USA Voice: 408.741.5010 / Cell: 408.568.2505 Consulting: Flash Memory/USB/Storage/Patents visit the Storage Cornucopia: www.bswd.com<http://www.bswd.com> FMS Technical Chair: www.FlashMemorySummit.com<http://www.FlashMemorySummit.com> IEEE Milestone<http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Milestones:List_of_IEEE_Milestones> Coordinator for Region 6<http://www.ieee-region6.org/> IEEE SCV Section<http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/scv/> Past Chair / IEEE-CNSV<http://www.CaliforniaConsultants.org> Board Director IEEE Silicon Valley Tech History Committee<http://www.SiliconValleyHistory.com/> Chair [https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0BziWcipiMNJkZV9CdXg2YjJhQUk&export=download] On Sat, Sep 8, 2018 at 9:53 PM Gleb J. Albert <gleb.albert@uzh.ch<mailto:gleb.albert@uzh.ch>> wrote: Dear colleagues and list members, This is a question that has kept me busy for quite some time, yet I am afraid I might have missed some crucial bit of information, and this is why I would like to address it to you. Are there any preservation institutions (archives, museums etc., apart from The Strong Museum / National Museum of Play in Rochester/NY) that host either company archives of computer game companies or personal papers of people involved in the production and marketing of home computer games in the 1980s and early 1990s? As I already mentioned on this list back in February, I am doing a post-doc research project on the transnational history of (non-commercial, low scale) home computer games piracy before the mass availability of the Internet, and, of course, the perspective of the back-then games industry is crucial in this question. Of course, the industry back then was extremely volatile - when companies went bankrupt, the last thing they thought about was preserving their archives (in the case of Psygnosis, for example, as far as I know everything was simply dumped). And those very few 1980s companies which are still active are very seclusive about their archives (which is sort-of understandable, given the retromania of today and their possible hopes of reviving/porting old titles). Nevertheless, the papers of Broderbund, Sierra On-Line, and a couple of other companies luckily ended up at The Strong - and to my knowledge, this is the only public institution that hosts materials like these. But maybe I missed some essential info? Are there any other holdings I am not aware of, particularly concerning the European games industry? I would be very thankful for any hints (as well as for contacts to former game studio and/or publisher/distributor folks who still might have kept their business papers). Best wishes, Gleb -- Dr. Gleb J. Albert Historisches Seminar, Universität Zürich Forschergruppe "Medien und Mimesis" Universität Zürich Historisches Seminar Culmannstr. 1 CH-8006 Zürich Switzerland Tel. +41-446346187 <http://uzh.academia.edu/GlebJAlbert> <http://www.fg-mimesis.de> Review editor: H-Soz-Kult, review team "History of Knowledge" - <http://www.hsozkult.de> _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org<http://sigcis.org>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org<http://sigcis.org>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org<http://sigcis.org>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
Also, The Atari Museum <http://www.atarimuseum.com/> and MADE: The Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment <https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-museum-of-art-and-digital-entertainment-oakland> Brian Berg On Sun, Sep 9, 2018 at 6:26 PM Amit Ray <axrgsl@rit.edu> wrote:
The collection at the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, NY is also worth a visit. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Center_for_the_History_of_Elec...
Amit Ray iPhoned
On Sep 9, 2018, at 6:07 PM, Deborah Douglas <ddouglas@mit.edu> wrote:
The Library of Congress has a strong collection as well.
Debbie Douglas
Deborah G. Douglas, Ph.D., Director of Collections and Curator of Science and Technology, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA - from my mobile device
On Sep 9, 2018, at 5:11 PM, Brian Berg <brianberg@gmail.com> wrote:
Al Alcorn, co-founder of Atari, informs me that the Stanford University Libraries has a collection of documents of Silicon Valley game companies. Leslie Berlin <https://web.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/berlin.html> or Henry Lowood <https://people.stanford.edu/lowood/> may be good contacts re: this. _________________________ Brian A. Berg / bberg@StanfordAlumni.org Berg Software Design 14500 Big Basin Way, Suite F, Saratoga, CA 95070 USA Voice: 408.741.5010 / Cell: 408.568.2505 Consulting: Flash Memory/USB/Storage/Patents visit the Storage Cornucopia: www.bswd.com FMS Technical Chair: www.FlashMemorySummit.com IEEE Milestone <http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Milestones:List_of_IEEE_Milestones> Coordinator for Region 6 <http://www.ieee-region6.org/> IEEE SCV Section <http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/scv/> Past Chair / IEEE-CNSV <http://www.CaliforniaConsultants.org> Board Director IEEE Silicon Valley Tech History Committee <http://www.SiliconValleyHistory.com/> Chair
On Sat, Sep 8, 2018 at 9:53 PM Gleb J. Albert <gleb.albert@uzh.ch> wrote:
Dear colleagues and list members,
This is a question that has kept me busy for quite some time, yet I am afraid I might have missed some crucial bit of information, and this is why I would like to address it to you.
Are there any preservation institutions (archives, museums etc., apart from The Strong Museum / National Museum of Play in Rochester/NY) that host either company archives of computer game companies or personal papers of people involved in the production and marketing of home computer games in the 1980s and early 1990s?
As I already mentioned on this list back in February, I am doing a post-doc research project on the transnational history of (non-commercial, low scale) home computer games piracy before the mass availability of the Internet, and, of course, the perspective of the back-then games industry is crucial in this question. Of course, the industry back then was extremely volatile - when companies went bankrupt, the last thing they thought about was preserving their archives (in the case of Psygnosis, for example, as far as I know everything was simply dumped). And those very few 1980s companies which are still active are very seclusive about their archives (which is sort-of understandable, given the retromania of today and their possible hopes of reviving/porting old titles).
Nevertheless, the papers of Broderbund, Sierra On-Line, and a couple of other companies luckily ended up at The Strong - and to my knowledge, this is the only public institution that hosts materials like these. But maybe I missed some essential info? Are there any other holdings I am not aware of, particularly concerning the European games industry?
I would be very thankful for any hints (as well as for contacts to former game studio and/or publisher/distributor folks who still might have kept their business papers).
Best wishes, Gleb
-- Dr. Gleb J. Albert Historisches Seminar, Universität Zürich Forschergruppe "Medien und Mimesis"
Universität Zürich Historisches Seminar Culmannstr. 1 CH-8006 Zürich Switzerland
Tel. +41-446346187 <http://uzh.academia.edu/GlebJAlbert> <http://www.fg-mimesis.de>
Review editor: H-Soz-Kult, review team "History of Knowledge" - <http://www.hsozkult.de> _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
_______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
There’s a lot of material on early research on video games in our RCA records at Hagley. From the finding aid of the David Sarnoff Research Center Records (ACC. 2464.09): Computer pioneer Jan A. Rajchman’s papers (Record group 23) provide insight on the early days of computer research, while Joseph A. Weisbecker’s papers (Record group 11, Series VII) show developments in hardware and software and the beginning of the age of personal computers and computer games. The papers of Edward C. Fox and Charles M. Wine (Record group 7, Series II and V) bring the story into the 1990s with the unsuccessful attempt to create a virtual reality video game system. Best wishes, Erik -- Erik P. Rau, PhD Director, Library Services Hagley Museum & Library P.O. Box 3630, 298 Buck Road Wilmington, DE 19807 302.658.2400, ext. 344 erau@hagley.org<mailto:erau@hagley.org> www.hagley.org<http://www.hagley.org> www.hagleyheritage.com<http://www.hagleyheritage.com> On 2018.Sep.10, at 07:31 , Brian Berg <brianberg@gmail.com<mailto:brianberg@gmail.com>> wrote: Also, The Atari Museum<http://www.atarimuseum.com/> and MADE: The Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment<https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-museum-of-art-and-digital-entertainment-oakland> Brian Berg On Sun, Sep 9, 2018 at 6:26 PM Amit Ray <axrgsl@rit.edu<mailto:axrgsl@rit.edu>> wrote: The collection at the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, NY is also worth a visit. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Center_for_the_History_of_Elec... Amit Ray iPhoned On Sep 9, 2018, at 6:07 PM, Deborah Douglas <ddouglas@mit.edu<mailto:ddouglas@mit.edu>> wrote: The Library of Congress has a strong collection as well. Debbie Douglas Deborah G. Douglas, Ph.D., Director of Collections and Curator of Science and Technology, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA - from my mobile device On Sep 9, 2018, at 5:11 PM, Brian Berg <brianberg@gmail.com<mailto:brianberg@gmail.com>> wrote: Al Alcorn, co-founder of Atari, informs me that the Stanford University Libraries has a collection of documents of Silicon Valley game companies. Leslie Berlin<https://web.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/berlin.html> or Henry Lowood<https://people.stanford.edu/lowood/> may be good contacts re: this. _________________________ Brian A. Berg / bberg@StanfordAlumni.org<mailto:bberg@StanfordAlumni.org> Berg Software Design 14500 Big Basin Way, Suite F, Saratoga, CA 95070 USA Voice: 408.741.5010 / Cell: 408.568.2505 Consulting: Flash Memory/USB/Storage/Patents visit the Storage Cornucopia: www.bswd.com<http://www.bswd.com/> FMS Technical Chair: www.FlashMemorySummit.com<http://www.flashmemorysummit.com/> IEEE Milestone<http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Milestones:List_of_IEEE_Milestones> Coordinator for Region 6<http://www.ieee-region6.org/> IEEE SCV Section<http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/scv/> Past Chair / IEEE-CNSV<http://www.californiaconsultants.org/> Board Director IEEE Silicon Valley Tech History Committee<http://www.siliconvalleyhistory.com/> Chair [https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0BziWcipiMNJkZV9CdXg2YjJhQUk&export=download] On Sat, Sep 8, 2018 at 9:53 PM Gleb J. Albert <gleb.albert@uzh.ch<mailto:gleb.albert@uzh.ch>> wrote: Dear colleagues and list members, This is a question that has kept me busy for quite some time, yet I am afraid I might have missed some crucial bit of information, and this is why I would like to address it to you. Are there any preservation institutions (archives, museums etc., apart from The Strong Museum / National Museum of Play in Rochester/NY) that host either company archives of computer game companies or personal papers of people involved in the production and marketing of home computer games in the 1980s and early 1990s? As I already mentioned on this list back in February, I am doing a post-doc research project on the transnational history of (non-commercial, low scale) home computer games piracy before the mass availability of the Internet, and, of course, the perspective of the back-then games industry is crucial in this question. Of course, the industry back then was extremely volatile - when companies went bankrupt, the last thing they thought about was preserving their archives (in the case of Psygnosis, for example, as far as I know everything was simply dumped). And those very few 1980s companies which are still active are very seclusive about their archives (which is sort-of understandable, given the retromania of today and their possible hopes of reviving/porting old titles). Nevertheless, the papers of Broderbund, Sierra On-Line, and a couple of other companies luckily ended up at The Strong - and to my knowledge, this is the only public institution that hosts materials like these. But maybe I missed some essential info? Are there any other holdings I am not aware of, particularly concerning the European games industry? I would be very thankful for any hints (as well as for contacts to former game studio and/or publisher/distributor folks who still might have kept their business papers). Best wishes, Gleb -- Dr. Gleb J. Albert Historisches Seminar, Universität Zürich Forschergruppe "Medien und Mimesis" Universität Zürich Historisches Seminar Culmannstr. 1 CH-8006 Zürich Switzerland Tel. +41-446346187 <http://uzh.academia.edu/GlebJAlbert> <http://www.fg-mimesis.de<http://www.fg-mimesis.de/>> Review editor: H-Soz-Kult, review team "History of Knowledge" - <http://www.hsozkult.de<http://www.hsozkult.de/>> _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org<http://sigcis.org/>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org<http://sigcis.org/>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org<http://sigcis.org/>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org<http://sigcis.org>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
….and a link to the finding aid to DSRC Records<https://findingaids.hagley.org/xtf/view?docId=ead/2464_09.xml>. -- Erik P. Rau, PhD Director, Library Services Hagley Museum & Library P.O. Box 3630, 298 Buck Road Wilmington, DE 19807 302.658.2400, ext. 344 erau@hagley.org<mailto:erau@hagley.org> www.hagley.org<http://www.hagley.org> www.hagleyheritage.com<http://www.hagleyheritage.com> On 2018.Sep.10, at 07:43 , Erik Rau <erau@Hagley.org<mailto:erau@Hagley.org>> wrote: There’s a lot of material on early research on video games in our RCA records at Hagley. From the finding aid of the David Sarnoff Research Center Records (ACC. 2464.09): Computer pioneer Jan A. Rajchman’s papers (Record group 23) provide insight on the early days of computer research, while Joseph A. Weisbecker’s papers (Record group 11, Series VII) show developments in hardware and software and the beginning of the age of personal computers and computer games. The papers of Edward C. Fox and Charles M. Wine (Record group 7, Series II and V) bring the story into the 1990s with the unsuccessful attempt to create a virtual reality video game system. Best wishes, Erik -- Erik P. Rau, PhD Director, Library Services Hagley Museum & Library P.O. Box 3630, 298 Buck Road Wilmington, DE 19807 302.658.2400, ext. 344 erau@hagley.org<mailto:erau@hagley.org> www.hagley.org<http://www.hagley.org/> www.hagleyheritage.com<http://www.hagleyheritage.com/> On 2018.Sep.10, at 07:31 , Brian Berg <brianberg@gmail.com<mailto:brianberg@gmail.com>> wrote: Also, The Atari Museum<http://www.atarimuseum.com/> and MADE: The Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment<https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-museum-of-art-and-digital-entertainment-oakland> Brian Berg On Sun, Sep 9, 2018 at 6:26 PM Amit Ray <axrgsl@rit.edu<mailto:axrgsl@rit.edu>> wrote: The collection at the Strong Museum of Play in Rochester, NY is also worth a visit. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Center_for_the_History_of_Elec... Amit Ray iPhoned On Sep 9, 2018, at 6:07 PM, Deborah Douglas <ddouglas@mit.edu<mailto:ddouglas@mit.edu>> wrote: The Library of Congress has a strong collection as well. Debbie Douglas Deborah G. Douglas, Ph.D., Director of Collections and Curator of Science and Technology, MIT Museum, Cambridge, MA - from my mobile device On Sep 9, 2018, at 5:11 PM, Brian Berg <brianberg@gmail.com<mailto:brianberg@gmail.com>> wrote: Al Alcorn, co-founder of Atari, informs me that the Stanford University Libraries has a collection of documents of Silicon Valley game companies. Leslie Berlin<https://web.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/berlin.html> or Henry Lowood<https://people.stanford.edu/lowood/> may be good contacts re: this. _________________________ Brian A. Berg / bberg@StanfordAlumni.org<mailto:bberg@StanfordAlumni.org> Berg Software Design 14500 Big Basin Way, Suite F, Saratoga, CA 95070 USA Voice: 408.741.5010 / Cell: 408.568.2505 Consulting: Flash Memory/USB/Storage/Patents visit the Storage Cornucopia: www.bswd.com<http://www.bswd.com/> FMS Technical Chair: www.FlashMemorySummit.com<http://www.flashmemorysummit.com/> IEEE Milestone<http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php/Milestones:List_of_IEEE_Milestones> Coordinator for Region 6<http://www.ieee-region6.org/> IEEE SCV Section<http://www.ewh.ieee.org/r6/scv/> Past Chair / IEEE-CNSV<http://www.californiaconsultants.org/> Board Director IEEE Silicon Valley Tech History Committee<http://www.siliconvalleyhistory.com/> Chair [https://docs.google.com/uc?id=0BziWcipiMNJkZV9CdXg2YjJhQUk&export=download] On Sat, Sep 8, 2018 at 9:53 PM Gleb J. Albert <gleb.albert@uzh.ch<mailto:gleb.albert@uzh.ch>> wrote: Dear colleagues and list members, This is a question that has kept me busy for quite some time, yet I am afraid I might have missed some crucial bit of information, and this is why I would like to address it to you. Are there any preservation institutions (archives, museums etc., apart from The Strong Museum / National Museum of Play in Rochester/NY) that host either company archives of computer game companies or personal papers of people involved in the production and marketing of home computer games in the 1980s and early 1990s? As I already mentioned on this list back in February, I am doing a post-doc research project on the transnational history of (non-commercial, low scale) home computer games piracy before the mass availability of the Internet, and, of course, the perspective of the back-then games industry is crucial in this question. Of course, the industry back then was extremely volatile - when companies went bankrupt, the last thing they thought about was preserving their archives (in the case of Psygnosis, for example, as far as I know everything was simply dumped). And those very few 1980s companies which are still active are very seclusive about their archives (which is sort-of understandable, given the retromania of today and their possible hopes of reviving/porting old titles). Nevertheless, the papers of Broderbund, Sierra On-Line, and a couple of other companies luckily ended up at The Strong - and to my knowledge, this is the only public institution that hosts materials like these. But maybe I missed some essential info? Are there any other holdings I am not aware of, particularly concerning the European games industry? I would be very thankful for any hints (as well as for contacts to former game studio and/or publisher/distributor folks who still might have kept their business papers). Best wishes, Gleb -- Dr. Gleb J. Albert Historisches Seminar, Universität Zürich Forschergruppe "Medien und Mimesis" Universität Zürich Historisches Seminar Culmannstr. 1 CH-8006 Zürich Switzerland Tel. +41-446346187 <http://uzh.academia.edu/GlebJAlbert> <http://www.fg-mimesis.de<http://www.fg-mimesis.de/>> Review editor: H-Soz-Kult, review team "History of Knowledge" - <http://www.hsozkult.de<http://www.hsozkult.de/>> _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org<http://sigcis.org/>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org<http://sigcis.org/>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org<http://sigcis.org/>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org<http://sigcis.org/>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org _______________________________________________ This email is relayed from members at sigcis.org<http://sigcis.org>, the email discussion list of SHOT SIGCIS. Opinions expressed here are those of the member posting and are not reviewed, edited, or endorsed by SIGCIS. The list archives are at http://lists.sigcis.org/pipermail/members-sigcis.org/ and you can change your subscription options at http://lists.sigcis.org/listinfo.cgi/members-sigcis.org
participants (6)
-
Amit Ray -
Brian Berg -
Deborah Douglas -
Erik Rau -
Gleb J. Albert -
Laine Nooney