Hello everyone!
I'm a new ALA member and new to the GameRT and was excited to see this group, as the library I work for recently started a collection of vintage driving/racing games (we're an automotive research library). Does anyone in the group here work for a special library with a gaming collection? I am aware of a few collections out there - University of North Texas, The National Video Game Museum (which eventually plans on creating a research library), etc. I would be interested in hearing about your experiences with collection development (especially outreach efforts in soliciting donations), preservation and providing access.
To help build an awareness of the collection among our parent organization's members, we will be running a research article one SEGA's Out Run (1986) in our parent organization's magazine, Antique Automobile. We selected Out Run because of its direct connection with automobiles (the car was modeled off of the Ferrari Testarossa) and because it has been ported to so many home computers and consoles over the years.
So far, we have an Atari 2600, NES, Gameboy and SEGA Genesis & CD with a small library of games. The strangest thing we received was an APF-MP1000, which was made in 1978 to compete with the Atari 2600. Only 13 games were ever made for this thing, one of which was built-in. Sadly, no driving games were among them, so it looks like we'll be trading this one in. ;-)
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas!
-Matt