Material Donations
The archive accepts any piece of paper created for or during game play. This includes things like character sheets, game notes, maps, scribbles, drawings, point tallies, math, anything. If you are donating a set of papers do not try to weed out seemingly unimportant pieces, even blank pieces of paper can be important in the right context. The archive also collects heavily modified game books and printed game aids, this might include books that are annotated, or rebound, or boxed games that have been changed in interesting ways. If in doubt, send it. Contact us at collections@plagmada.org to arrange shipping.
If you are an active gamer the most important thing you can do for the archive is to contact your friends and acquaintances who no longer play. Encourage them to donate the papers mouldering away in closets and basements. Ex-gamers are the people most likely to destroy their papers, seek them out and tell them about the archive.
You can donate to the archive using your credit card here. Your donation is tax deductible, please see the donation page for more information. Your monetary donations will help with the acquisition and preservation of documents, with exhibits and educational outreach related to archive material, with scanning the material and maintaining the website.
Partnerships
The archive is especially interested in partnering with game clubs and conventions, and with used game and books stores. Contact your local convention or used game store and tell them about the archive, we’d love to absorb the game materials that they will throw away. Direct interested parties to collections@plagmada.org
Exhibitions
Exhibitions of archive material have been held at the Cranbrook School of Art, University of Wisconsin, F.A.C.T. in Liverpool, the Nikolaj Kunsthalle in Copenhagen, all over. Work with your local museums, galleries, game conventions, schools and libraries to host exhibitions of PlaGMaDA material. To set up showings of material, contact collections@plagmada.org
FAQS:
Can I just send you scans of the documents?
Yes, the archive accepts digital donations. The physical documents are preferred because they can be exhibited in galleries and educational institutions, and because they can later be rescanned at higher resolutions for print or other uses.
What will happen to the documents when you are no longer able to manage it?
The archive has partnerships with more traditional collecting institutions. When you enter your documents into the PlaGMaDA collection know that they will be preserved for perpetuity as valuable papers important to the history of game development.
What if I want to keep my stuff for now but donate it later?
That’s great! We recommend you affix a label to your boxes of books and documents which prominently displays our email address, collections@plagmada.org. Include a statement that you want these boxes to be given to the archive at a later date.
What if I send you game books that don’t fit into the collecting objective of the archive?
Unneeded game books that fall outside of the archives interests will most likely be donated to the Science Fiction and Fantasy Research Collection at Texas A&M University.
Should I scan the donated documents before I mail them to you?
We scan in a very specific way to ensure high quality images for the website. It is preferred that you send the items directly and allow us to do the tedious work.
Will I need to sign an agreement when I send the material to the archive?
All donations to the archive give implied consent that the materials can be posted on the internet and reproduced in books and educational materials. You assign non-exclusive rights to the archive through donating. This will be explained in an agreement that we ask you sign and include with the donations.
