I just got back from a fine time at MAGfest 2020, where I presented as part of the history track in MAGES for the second year. It’s real fun! I felt really lucky to get to do that for a second year. Something that came up in Q&A this year and last year is what folks can do to support video game history and preservation when they are not themselves historians or preservation professionals. So, I wanted to put together a quick list of ideas, which I’ll add to if/when I think of more things.

Read and watch our stuff

Seriously, an easy peasy thing you can do is read books on video game history, watch video game history videos, follow video game historians and preservationists on Twitter, and read our blogs. You don’t even need to buy our books and whatnot. Pick them up at the library or request that your library order them. That helps!

Readership and viewership numbers help demonstrate interest and make this work sustainable in the eyes of publishers. Also, yes, royalties matter, even though they’re often tiny. So, read and watch our stuff — everyone loves to have their work seen, and supporting video game history work with your time and attention helps us keep going financially, too.

Give archives your stuff

Archives are often looking for artifacts. If you have anything game-related that you’re thinking about getting rid of, check to see if an archive might need it. This is true if you’re a player and you just have normal consumer things, and it’s also true if you’re a developer and have artifacts related to your own projects. Researchers are interested in a lot of things, and that goes way past iconic titles.

The Strong Museum of Play, the Learning Games Initiative Research Archive, the Internet Archive, and Stanford Libraries are among the biggest collections of video game artifacts in the world, and they all take donations within certain parameters. Also, the Video Game History Foundation can help you figure out where to send your stuff.

Sometimes, you might found out they don’t need the thing you called about, but that’s ok! Making sure archives and museums have the copies they need makes it easier for researchers to access things.

Give us money

If you have money to contribute to preservation and historical work, please do! Many of the archives and libraries are registered nonprofits, so you get to feel all warm and fuzzy about giving money. They also operate on a shoestring so every dollar you send goes straight into helping preservation and historical work. Here’s links to donation options:

• The Video Game History Foundation
• The Learning Games Initiative Research Archive
• The International Center for the History of Electronic Games at the Strong Museum of Play
• The Internet Archive

Speak up for funding

The National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, the Library of Congress, and the National Museum of American History all support and fund historical research on video games, and the latter two also do a massive amount of preservation work.

All of these organizations get shoved towards the chopping block with some regularity. Federal support for historical research and preservation is vital to maintaining a healthy ecosystem. Individual nonprofits cannot fill the void left if the NEH, NSF, Library of Congress, National Museum of American History, or other important institutions lose funding. These represent (quite literally) your tax dollars at work. Let your senators and representative know that you support the work these organizations do and want to see their funding retained or expanded–not cut.

Go to exhibits, lectures, and events

When libraries, museums, or other cultural institutions stage exhibits, metrics matter a lot. Does a local museum have a video game history exhibit or event? Is a local university hosting a speaker? Show up. Get your friends to show up. Every body that enters that building counts.

Want to take this to the next level? Write a nice note to the organization letting them know how much you enjoyed the event. It adds to those metrics, provides exciting content for otherwise dry internal reports, and also lets people know their work matters. What’s not to love?

Signal boost

Tell other people about video game history and preservation. Tweet about upcoming books or events. Share about museum exhibits on Facebook. Post about fundraising efforts everywhere. Butts in seats and eyeballs on pages matter — a lot. Helping spread the word can be an easy but vital way to help sustain our work.