vs'

1
The OAIS Reference Model
vs.
The BFG 9000
DOOM Software Representation Information The
Preserving Virtual Worlds project has been
investigating how computer games and interactive
fiction might be preserved in a manner consistent
with the OAIS reference model. The basic notions
of representation information (needed to decode
digital information) and context information
(needed to intellectually situate digital
information) would seem to be applicable to the
preservation of computer games. However, our
research to date suggests that OAISs assumptions
regarding the relationship between archivists and
the community they serve do not necessarily hold
for a preservation repository of computer games.
The OAIS reference model assumes a relative
homogeneity in the user communitys knowledge
base archivists decisions regarding the level
of representation information to store are aimed
at retaining the minimum necessary to assist
members of that community. With respect to this
model, our investigations suggest that potential
users of a game archive demonstrate a challenging
range of technical knowledge with respect to
gaming technology and use. We have not found a
common intellectual grounding in software design
and implementation or in game design that would
allow an archivist to readily discern an
appropriate level of representation information
to record for games. So, while a minimum level
of representation information can be identified
(see TABLE 1), users with less knowledge and
experience with modern software and hardware
architectures may require significantly greater
representation information.
TABLE 1
DOOM Software Context Information The same
pattern holds for context information. Allowing
users of a game archive to fully understand the
context for a particular game also requires
providing them with much more information than
the implicit information provided by digital
records archival bond. But potential users of a
game archive come from a variety of perspectives
and with vastly differing research needs that
require different contextualizing information.
The needs of a game researcher investigating the
relationships between game companies and user
communities with respect to issues of game mods
and intellectual property law are very different
from the needs of a researcher investigating the
influence of the development of pixel shading
technology on game art, and both require
significant information beyond copies of the
games themselves to support their endeavors.
These differing users bring varying levels
of knowledge of game history and game play to
their work which complicate the task of any
archivist attempting to determine the forms and
extent of context information that must be
preserved along with the game itself.
DOOM MODS Ghostbuster, Hello Kitty Flashlight
Lego Base
EVOLUTION OF THE CACODEMON
Preserving Virtual Worlds Project UIUC Team
Jerome McDonough, Patricia Hswe, Rob
Olendorf MITH Team Neil Fraistat, Matthew
Kirschenbaum, Kari Kraus, Rachel Donahue RIT
Team Andrew Phelps, Elizabeth Lawley,
Christopher Egert, Heather Arbiter SU Team Henry
Lowood, Susan Rojo