Retrocomputing as preservation and remix

Abstract

If you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -The paper's aim is to describe the world of retrocomputing, a constellation of largely non-professional practices involving old computing technology. It seeks to show how retrocomputing serves the goals of collection and preservation, particularly in regards to historic software, and how retrocomputing practices challenge traditional notions of authenticity. It then seeks to propose an alternative conceptualization and suggest new avenues for collaboration between retrocomputing practitioners and memory institutions. Design/methodology/approach -The paper is based on extensive observation of retrocomputing projects, conducted primarily online. Findings -Retrocomputing includes many activities that can be seen as constituting collection and preservation. At the same time, it is often transformative, producing assemblages that "remix" fragments from the past with newer elements or joining together historic components that were never combined before. While such "remix" may seem to undermine preservation, it also allows for fragments of computing history to be reintegrated into a living, ongoing practice, contributing to preservation in a broader sense. The seemingly unorganized nature of retrocomputing assemblages also provides space for alternative "situated knowledges" and histories of computing, which can sometimes be quite sophisticated.Research limitations/implications -Retrocomputing challenges established notions of collection and preservation. A "situated knowledges" perspective provides a possible resolution. Practical implications -Retrocomputing presents memory institutions (and libraries in particular) with an opportunity for new forms of collaboration in collection and preservation of software applications. Originality/value -The paper puts at the center the ways in which retrocomputing challenges the established notions of collection and preservation. It offers alternative conceptualizations that suggest new forms of collaboration.

Preserving Data Journalism: A Systematic Literature Review

“…The tools used for this purpose mentioned included ReproZip (Broussard and Boss 2018;Chirigati et al 2016;Rampin et al 2016;Steeves, Rampin, and Chirigati 2018), although all but one (Broussard and Boss 2018) of these papers were written by the team behind ReproZip for the purposes of introducing or demonstrating the tool. Other tools mentioned were WebRecorder (Broussard and Boss 2018), RISA (Remote Interface to Science Analysis), tools to decouple data processing software from infrastructure life-cycles (Gabriel et al 2015;Ibarra and Gabriel 2012), media migration tools such as Dis-cFerret (Takhteyev and DuPont 2013), and a variety of preservation, workflow management and configuration management tools (Chirigati et al 2016;Steeves, Rampin, and Chirigati 2018).…”

“…Legal issues were a challenge noted in over a quarter of studies, where preservation actions may infringe on copyright and intellectual property rights. This is particularly true of digital game preservation as the producers and copyright holders of digital games are often not the ones preserving their products (Barwick, Dearnley, and Muir 2011;Monnens et al 2009;Takhteyev and DuPont 2013). Barateiro et al (2012) also raised the issue of the prevalence of Software as a Service (SaaS) products and how copyright issues there may prevent preservation workflows.…”

Understanding the “expanded notion” of videogames as archival objects: A review of priorities, methods, and conceptions

“…Areas of responsibility could be drawn up (Barwick et al, ) and work on establishing interinstitutional praxis in the curation of videogames as archival objects could be coordinated (McDonough et al, ). The knowledge and the collections of videogame communities, including the communities of retrogaming and fan‐driven game‐preservation projects, are valuable prospective partners concerning game archive service design, technical knowledge, the documentation of lived experience, and metadata work (application and structure) (Galloway, ; Newman, ; Stuckey, Swalwell, & Ndalianis, ; Stuckey, Swalwell, Ndalianis, & de Vries, ; Takhteyev, ). Cooperation with the videogame industry, in turn, potentially yields materials with provenance in the development process and the opportunity to circumvent the legal hindrances to videogame preservation presented by IP law (Bachell & Barr, ; Conley, Andros, Chinal, Lipkowitz, & Perez, ; Winget & Sampson, ).…”

The archive and the scene: On the cultural techniques of retrocomputing databases

“…And while most users forget, discard, and move on to the next shinier, faster, and more black-boxed technology (see Swalwell, 2012 for an insightful perspective on this), others take responsibility for maintaining, and developing, the “contemporary presence” of “obsolete” technologies. Some of these aspects are further highlighted in a thorough and open-minded paper by Takhteyev and DuPont (2013), where the authors make a compelling argument for learning from retrocomputing preservation practices in museal curation and digital preservation and in general. Moving beyond strict issues of preservation and gaming, and in an effort to widen retrocomputing studies and its potential implications for current digital culture, this article seeks to (1) engage with retrocomputing archives and databases as cultural techniques, (2) theorize collective archives and collective archiving as such, putting a bigger emphasis on the paradoxes, tensions, and in-between positions that characterize them, and (3) discuss how retrocomputing may become a more widespread practice for an increasing amount of people, seeking access to their digital pasts in a time when planned obsolescence is rampant.…”