The Becker College Interactive Media Library will consist of a collection of respected and relevant interactive media titles representing the historic timeline of the development of the field from around the world. It will also include certain hardware and online accounts required to view and access said titles. The collection will be a reference library on the Becker College campus for exclusive use by members of the Becker College community, MassDiGI – and possibly the Worcester College Consortium. One or two rooms within the Library (or other appropriate campus location) will be reserved for the viewing of such materials following the guidelines listed here in the section on Space Requirements. Becker College, as home to a top ten Princeton Review game program, should be host to the IM Library, a truly innovative academic resource. Furthermore, the IM Library should be of significant use to MassDiGI, as a hub of development and resources for the gaming industry in Massachusetts.
The Standard in Academic Game Libraries
While a precedent has been set for game collections in academia; these collections are extremely new and quite rare at this time — much like the institution of a Game major in higher education. Just as Becker College has taken the lead in innovation by recognizing game studies as a bona-fide academic field, now is the opportunity for Becker College to lead the way with the first academic game library on the east coast, and one of only a handful in the country. Some examples include:
- University of Texas at Austin: UT Videogame Archive
- http://www.cah.utexas.edu/projects/videogamearchive/index.php
- University of Michigan’s Computer & Video Game Archive: basement of the Art, Architecture and Engineering Library
- http://www.lib.umich.edu/computer-video-game-archive
- University of Santa Cruz and the director of its Center for Games and Playable Media
- http://library.ucsc.edu/video-games
- Stanford University Green Library’s Media & Microtext Center has game titles
- University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
- http://www.library.illinois.edu/gaming/about.html
- University of Chicago
- http://news.lib.uchicago.edu/blog/2012/05/25/videogame-collection-supports-scholarly-study/
Specific Becker College Uses
Every course in the Interactive Media department relies on academic discourse centered on electronic games. While books and journals do provide a significant source of scholarly treatment on the subject matter, core examples for research and course discussion cannot come from second hand references. Just as it would not be appropriate to teach English or Writing courses without requiring the reading of novels and non-academic titles, nor sufficient to teach Film Studies with only scholarly readings on the material, the Interactive Media department cannot rely on academic research alone.
All GAME courses require the review of numerous game titles for research, homework reference, and supplementation of the lecture material for every student. Currently, faculty must rely on ported titles (ie. games originally designed for use on a console system like the Nintendo Entertainment System can be re-programmed to work on PCs) emulated on the computer which are restricted to archived titles which are no longer under copyright. Other current sources include amateur games available online, free of cost, which while serving a purpose, are not ideal. Another source is screen-shots or video clips of games being played, which faculty will either obtain personally or locate examples for review.
The department needs to be able to require that students review well-respected titles, from past and present eras of game development, and from a world-wide variety of publishers. Ideally, the games should be experienced on the console systems for which they were originally designed. Some of these titles have million dollar sales-figures, others are renowned for their unique or ground-breaking contribution to the field of art, design or hardware – innovators in the industry. Such titles are often not free and can require specialized hardware [game consoles or game-ready PCs] or require online accounts to access which are subscription based [again, not free]. Referencing such titles currently is out of the question, as the department cannot require that students own multiple game consoles, acquire a gaming PC, and purchase multiple titles and accounts. The IM Library proposal would allow for students to sign in and use the appropriate game console and game title, much like every college has such facilities for the student use of reference books, online journals, movies and music on Blue Ray or DVD, and language learning stations.
The obvious need for a IM Library at Becker College stems from the Interactive Media department; however, this is an inter-departmental agenda. Games are currently used as academic resources and materials for courses in all number of departments at institutions of higher learning around the globe. From the study of interactive narrative in English departments to the psychological review of how games affect socialization and the impact of violence in the media, game titles have become relevant to every discipline. How can we be leaders in the rigorous academic study of interactive media without being the first institution in the region to offer a IM Library.
Interactive Media Gallery Space
Though the proposed IM Library is not a huge space, there would be ample room on the walls for displays. Ideally these displays would be electronic, providing a unique venue for an art form extremely under-represented in a gallery setting. While digital art makes up a large percentage of contemporary mainstream and commercial art, it is barely visible in museums and galleries across the country. Since all Interactive Media art is produced and typically displayed electronically, it would be an excellent opportunity for Becker College to combine resources and offer a professional, high-quality exhibition space for digital artwork in conjunction with the IM Library space. The Gallery would also provide an aesthetically pleasing and inspiring environment befitting of such an academic endeavor. Pieces for the gallery would be exceptionally easy to update, with rotating exhibitions no longer a hassle as has previously been the case with printed media. Becker College students, faculty, MassDiGI connections and artists from the Interactive Media industry could be offered a showcase opportunity.
Donations and Game Alumni:
An open call for donations should be one of the first press releases. The Library would continue to accept donations as a primary source of back-catalogued acquisitions. Alumni would be an excellent source for past game hardware and title donations, and such a campaign would help to integrate the Becker College alumni in current college activity. Game major graduates would also be an excellent source of titles for which they have been contributors – there are in fact several such titles donated to the Game department currently, but unfortunately currently only housed in my and other faculty members’ offices. Another significant source of donations for the Game Library would be the Massachusetts based game companies [publishers, production companies, hardware developers, as well as independent game developers] which would be approached in the initial campaign, and could be addressed through venues such as PAX East, Boston Post Mortem monthly meetings, NE Games SIG, and the Boston Indies meet-ups. MassDiGI has extensive relationships with such organizations. Not to be overlooked are the actual video game sellers and resellers in the area such as Game Stop, Best Buy and That’s Entertainment, who recognize the college population as a huge source of revenue in the area of video games. An initial outreach campaign would include contacting these organizations and explaining the proposed IM Library, asking for donations of past work as well as an informal [or formal] agreement for future donations or reduced cost acquisitions.
Reduced Priced Acquisitions:
Most game publishers have Academic Connection [AC] departments and liaisons with which our Game department, MassDiGI, and Becker’s IT department have a relationship. These ACs provide free or reduced cost services from software to hardware for our labs and/or our students and faculty. The initial campaign would approach these ACs with the goal of acquiring titles for the IM Library. A reduced cost or possibly cost-free agreement could be arranged. Furthermore, it is possible to buy used and through Academic Vendors. http://www.librarygamingtoolkit.org/vendors.html
Library Consortium:
The Becker College Library has access and interaction with the college consortium and this relationship could also be of benefit in creating the IM Library. While the Game Library would reside on the Becker College campus, allowing for students from other colleges in the consortium to access the resources and perhaps permitting the titles to be part of the inter-library loan system, would encourage financial contribution from these other academic institutions.
Annually Budgeted Purchases:
Each year the Becker College Library has an acquisition budget for multiple forms of media and materials for academic use by the various departments. While there are scholarly books and journals related to game studies, it is most appropriate to have a game media collection as well. Part of the annual library budget allocated to Interactive Media purchases would go towards purchases of game titles requested by the department. A recurring line-item in the department budget would also be added.
Electronic Catalog
We will require an electronic database for cataloging the games which may include information not required for other media such as books or journals. Finding an existing system of cataloging may be preferable. One example is: http://www.collectorz.com/game/game_library.php
Security Measures
The titles must be secure and should be handled as reference books – to only be used on location and not for check-out to users. This will preserve the collection as well as deter copyright infringement. Furthermore, this decision should help in convincing publishers and developers that donations for inclusion in the IM Library will in no way impede on their profits or copyright, but simply encourage historical relevance and inspire interest to in users to further pursue said titles and authors. The current system for reference materials should be suitable for security purposes.
Collection Curators
While specialist curators are not necessary, obviously research is required in order to ensure that the IM Library has the most relevant and appropriate items in its collection. The Game department should be consulted for the initial selection of the IM Library media and will continue to request titles for purchase with a portion of the annual Library budget. Furthermore, there are resources available from the American Library Association on video game acquisition, and a number of publications offering a canon of respected video game titles representing innovations and socially and developmentally significant milestones in the field which the Becker College Library game specialist can use to better inform his or her acquisition decisions.
Docents
The knowledge to locate requested material from the Game Library based on a variety of criteria, as well as the ability to select and engage appropriate hardware for interaction with the game media, would be assisted by a specialized background in the area. Work Study students will be trained as docents for the IM Library, allowing them to use their understanding of interactive entertainment and the related technology to provide a rewarding and efficient experience to users of the IM Library. A segment on the use of the IM Library and its resources for research would become a component of the first year, Fall semester, GAME course, The History of Game Design; thus ensuring that Game majors will be able to take advantage of this rich resource from the earliest point.
Facilities
The location for using game materials should be separated from the main library book collection, much like an audio library room or language learning room. The space would include the TV screens and the PCs listed in the Hardware section of the proposal. Users would go to the reference librarian to check out the game titles [those which are stand-alone] and the appropriate cart with appropriate game console for use in the room. The room should be separate so that the audio and video as well as the interactivity of the media does not distract other patrons. Size requirements include a space to make motion detection and multiplayer interaction viable. All spaces will be accessible.
Software Requirements
Online accounts such as Steam will be needed for IM computers as well a number of games from various publishers. PC games should be preloaded so as not to require installation time. Some console games [sixth and seventh generation] should be preloaded so that the save data area is already created in order to reduce installation time. Older console games will be on their original media and will be checked out and used locally on the systems as required. Some games will be emulated from their original console media to a PC version. These games and the emulation software will need to be acquired [some are free] and installed on the PCs. A good source for those titles which are not free due to open copyright, but have been permitted to be ported for the PC, is www.gog.com. Game distribution often utilizes non-media format, meaning titles will be streamed. At times this may require electronic drive space, but at other times, it may be that the IM Library will have a personalized account [login] to access the media, much like electronic journals. The games themselves will be hosted off-site, but the Library will have an exclusive account permitting access to the media via online connection.
Publicity: Initial Campaign
MassDiGI and the Becker College Interactive Media department will work with local and academic connections to garner support for the first round of contributions for the creation of the IM Library. A web portal will be needed not only to describe the proposed IM Library, but also to include forms of contact for individuals and organizations wishing to contribute monetarily or in-kind. Social media outlets will be used to reach a broader audience, including students, alumni, and prospective students who will have varying interest in the project from wishing to contribute to being excited to use the resources, all of which will be positive press.
The initial campaign will include a plan for how varying tiers of contributors should be recognized so as to showcase the list of supporters for the project. A permanent list with logos for contributors and partners will be displayed on the IM Library website in noted tiers of support. Tagging donated items will help encourage donation by companies and organizations, while rotating screen acknowledgements would provide visible and easily produced recognition for other tiers. Invitations to the Opening Gala would provide significant incentive.
Ulm