The Institute of Museum and Library Services

“Over the past half century, video games have transformed our society. Museums and libraries struggle with the challenges of ever-changing technology to preserve that cultural legacy,” says ICHEG’s director Jon-Paul Dyson. The grant has enabled the Center “to test the functionality of approximately 7,000 games in the collection and ensure that we have all the necessary hardware and software to run the programs,” Dyson says.

“When we test the games we also capture 10–20 minutes of video of the game play for each game. This program of video capture has emerged as an important preservation tool.”

Dyson also notes that the grant is helping the Center pioneer methods that other institutions can use to preserve video games and record their impact on society.