Vintage Gaming Collection
Development Policy
Overview
The UIUC Gaming Initiative consists of two collections – a circulating collection of
current generation games, and a Vintage Gaming collection consisting of older
games (as defined below) and games with local origins that warrant long-term
preservation because of their enduring evidential value.
The Vintage Gaming Collection focuses specifically on research and instructional
needs related to the study of video game history, and the popular culture contexts in
which video games exist. This collection supports a variety of research disciplines
including history of technology, psychology, speech communications, computer
science, information science, computer science, and literature which investigate the
technological and social interactions of video games.
Scope and Format
Collection Components
The Vintage Gaming collection will consist of two discrete components –
commercially-available games, and University of Illinois or locally-produced games.
Commercial Games and related materials will be collected, stored, and maintained
under the auspices of the Video Game Subject Specialist Librarian. Games with
University of Illinois origins, as defined below, will be treated as archival material
and be collected, stored, and maintained following standard policies and procedures
for the University Archives.
Commercial Games
Physical Items
The Vintage Gaming collection preserves video games accessed through cartridgebased consoles. This preservation initiative seeks to be comprehensive in collecting
both licensed and unlicensed games for each general type of console. Additionally,
hardware, software, peripherals (game controllers, etc.), and printed guides used to
install and operate each game in its original format are also collected. A list of
consoles for which games are currently collected is as follows:
 Atari 2600
 Atari 5200
 Atari 7800
 Atari Jaguar
 Colecovision
 Intellevision
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Magnavox Odyssey
Nintendo Entertainment System/Famicon
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo 64
Nintendo GameBoy
Sega Master System
Sega Genesis
When these consoles have multiple or alternate versions, every reasonable effort
will be made to preserve these successor and hybrid consoles.
Digital Items
As part of this preservation initiative digital copies of these games will be preserved
in a digital archives. These copies will be made for use on game system emulators,
and include related metadata following the national standards for digital archives,
(e.g., the OAIS reference model).
University of Illinois and Locally Produced Games
The University Library will collect games and related materials produced by current
or former faculty/staff members and alumni which are relevant to both the Vintage
Gaming collection’s mission and that of the University Archives. Stewardship of this
particular type of gaming content includes storing, preserving, and making relevant
content available to aid in research on the history of the institution and on the
development of academic disciplines.
Content which falls under this portion of the collection will include games and
gaming elements (music, art, code, etc.) that are used as part of the teaching and
research missions of the University. Examples include games created specifically for
the teaching of a particular class; games that are produced by students as part of
their educational experience; and games that are designed by faculty and instructors
as part of their research and publications. Decisions regarding the acquisition and
preservation of these materials of enduring value will occur through consultation
between the Video Game Subject Specialist Librarian and the University Archivist.
For accepted submissions, all related content (as described above) will be collected,
preserved, and administered by the University Archives. The content will be
accessed through Archon and/or appropriate archival collection discovery tools.
Promotion of the collection will be the joint responsibility of the University Archives
and the Video Game Subject Specialist Librarian.
Access
Due to the fragile physical nature of the collection, access to physical items must be
requested in advance, and is only provided to individuals or groups who meet the
following criteria:
 Conducting academic research;
 Use of games for classes taught through the University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign;
 Use in exhibits supporting research and/or instruction at the University of
Illinois
Access to physical copies of Vintage Games is restricted to in-building access,
although exceptions may be granted based on need. Access to related materials
from the University Archives follows their standard archival access procedures.
Donations
Donations to the collection are welcome. All gift items will be evaluated to
determine if they have enduring value and clearly complement the collections
development goals. Items which are accepted must have their ownership
transferred to the Library. The library also retains the right to de-accession items
that are determined to no longer have enduring value.