‘KNEE-DEEP IN THE DATA’: PRACTICAL PROBLEMS IN APPLYING THE OAIS
REFERENCE MODEL TO THE PRESERVATION OF COMPUTER GAMES
Jerome McDonoughUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Preserving Virtual Worlds Multiyear initiative investigating the preservation of computer
games & interactive fiction Goal: To help develop mechanisms and methods for preserving digital
games and interactive fiction Methods: Case studies of individual games, experimental testing
Partners Graduate School of Library & Information Science
University of Illinois Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities University of
Maryland College of Computing & Information Sciences Rochester
Institute of Technology Stanford University Libraries Stanford
University
You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
Preserving Virtual Worlds
Game Preservation Problems Complexity & Boundaries Versioning Meaning & Context
Game Preservation:A Data Model
Archival Information Package – Open Archival Information System Reference Model
Game Preservation:A Data Model
Game Preservation:A Data Model
Game Preservation:A Data Model
AdventureManifestation
AdventureItem
AdventureExpression
AdventureWork
AdventureSub-ItemData File
AdventureSub-Item
FORTRAN IVFile
<mets:div TYPE=“pvw:Work”>
<mets:div TYPE=“pvw:Expression”>
<mets:div TYPE=“pvw:Manifestation”>
<mets:div TYPE=“pvw:Item”>
<mets:div TYPE=“pvw:Item”>
<rdf:Description rdf:about=”URI forWork Aggregation"> <rdf:type=”pvw:Work" /> <ore:aggregates rdf:resource=“URI for Expression Aggregation />…</rdf:Description>
Game Preservation:A Data Model
AdventureWork
AdventureSub-Item
FORTRAN IVFile
xlink:arcrole="pvw:has_context_information"
Adventure Family Tree Website
Work
DEC System 10 FORTRAN Language
ManualExpression
<pvw:has_representation_information … />
A few remaining problems
A few remaining problems
A few remaining problems
A few possible solutions Collaboration
Among libraries, archives and museums on:○ On data storage○ On identification of representation information
Between LAMs and the gaming community on:○ Selection and acquisition of context
information○ Intellectual description
Thanks!
Questions?
