11 replies to this topic

[Soulstrom]

My fellow Mech-Warriors and forum warriors, my name is Adam Mosseri (a.k.a Soulstrom) and it is my pleasure to announce the Online Gaming Oral History Project (OGOH). The OGOH strives to collect the oral histories of actively growing online-gaming committees, as-well-as communities that show continued potential for the foreseeable future. Each and every day new online-gamers join the ranks of the veterans who have played for decades. The OGOH intends to collect and share the stories of all who are member of the expansively diverse communities. The purpose of this project is to give members of various online-gaming communities members the opportunity to have their (your) story shared and immortalized.

Why should you participate? This is an opportunity like no other as OGOH will be collecting twenty oral histories from the MWO community to become the first group to ever have their gaming histories collected in this type medium. It is a chance to have your story of how you got involved in gaming, MWO, anything to be shared with the world. Additionally participants of Phase I will have the added opportunity to become a staring character for the publication of a Max Brook’s stylized audio drama, which will be available in e-book format through amazon. This will give you the opportunity to take your fan-created characters to a whole new level. Artwork submission for the e-book is also welcomed, but will not be accepted at this time.

Who am I? Let me introduce myself. Hi. My name is Adam Mosseri. I am a professional archivist, born digital collections manager, and oral historian. Currently I am employed with Wayne State University in Detroit, MI as a professional technician specializing in data security, diagnostics, and server administration. I have a M.A in Library and Information Science and Archival Administration specializing in digital authenticity, digital preservation and conservation, and oral history preservation. I have been working in the field of archival sciences for five years and I have three years of professional oral history recording and transcription experience. I have willingly provided my Linkedin hyperlink for your convenience and so that you may review my credentials further.

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin...osseri-342279a1

Why should you trust me? You will find a hyperlinked document that I have provided for your convenience. As this is a professional endeavor, please feel free to PM or e-mail me as many and any questions as you like, however please allow me time to respond to your e-mails and PM’s. If you are interested in other resources please contact me with such a request via e-mail only.

Smithsonian Oral History Guidelines: http://www.folklife....iewingguide.pdf

Why are there release forms? The forms are here to protect you as the interviewee and myself as the interviewer. The interview release forms have been modeled for these purposes after current release forms utilized by the University of Michigan’s Bentley Historical Library, The Reuther Archive, the National Archives and Records Administration, the Smithsonian Institution and the University of Maryland’s University Archives Special Collections department.

Interview Release Form: https://drive.google...iew?usp=sharing

OGOH Release Interview Release Form: https://drive.google...iew?usp=sharing

Contact Information: E-mail: OGOH16@gmail.com


How to participate?
Part 1:

• You must be at least 18 years older to participate. It is professionally unethical and illegal to collect, transcribe, record, etc… the oral histories given by minors without parental/guardian consent or to do so without said parent/ guardian in the room while an oral history is recorded.
  
• You must sign and date the interview release forms 30 days before the interview takes place. I will not interview you without the signing of the release forms. If I have not received your form 30 days before your interview date your slot will be given to someone else.
  
• You must have access to a stable internet connection.
  
• You must be available to schedule a minimum of 2 hours of your time for the interview to take place on the agreed upon date.
  
• You will need a microphone. [You do not need a webcam as video will not be recorded.]

Part 2:

• You must submit via e-mail or post in this thread a 250 word maximum abstract explaining why you want to participate in the project.
  
• You must additionally submit via e-mail or post in this thread a 750 word maximum fan-created short story of your potential character for the audio/e-book drama.

How participation decision will be made:

• At my discretion. This is a professional project and a brand new undertaking in the world of oral histories, thus for Phase I that selection of participants will be determined based on the quality of your abstract and short story. This is an experimental process as this form of oral history collection has never been done before with gaming communities.
  
• FAN FAVORITE: Whoever’s abstract gets the most “likes” in the thread will receive a slot.

Who can participate? Anyone. If you are a member of the MWO community (18 years or older) you are welcome to submit and abstract and short story. PGI staff members are encouraged to submit entries too.





Proposed Timeline:
[Be aware that the timeline is always subject to change as the project progresses.]

• February 19, 2016: Announcement of the Online Gaming Oral History Project

• February 20, 2016: Begin accepting submissions for participation.

• March 31^th, 2016: Closure of the Phase I submission period.
  
• May 1^st, 2016: Announcement of the 20 participant interviewee's for Phase I.
  
• July 1^st, 2016: First Oral History for Phase I to be taken.

• January 6^th, 2017: OGOH website will go live for public use.
  
• February 1^st, 2017: Release of all 20 oral histories collected (transcripts and audio files) on the OGOH website. *
  
• March 1^st, 2017: Open cover art submission for the e-book.*
  
• July 4^th, 2017: Release of the audio book and e-book on amazon.*
  
• August 1^st, 2017: Beginning of Phase II. *

*These are completely subjective dates. These are benchmarks to give you an idea of when portions of this project could see completion. Transcription, professional audio editing, compilation, sourcing, and cataloging are lengthy processes. As an example, it takes roughly 15 minutes to transcribe 1 minute of an oral history for an experienced oral historian.

Edited by Soulstrom, 29 February 2016 - 03:58 PM.

[Soulstrom]

The Mech Warrior Online community is an exceptional community! I am sure there are stories that you want to tell; I hope.

[CainenEX]

Sounds like a fun project. I'd like to participate bit I'm concerned about the amount of work involved in this undertaking. I read through the details and it looks like there is a fair bit of work and time investment from both parties. Would certain aspects, such as time be flexible to the parties interested in the project?

[Soulstrom]

The amount of work involved for the interviewee is minimal. The interviewee does not handle the audio editing, transcription, etc... The interviewee just needs to set up time(s) where you are available to speak. This can be done in 30 minute increments or 1 hour increments. We will not be taking a 2 hour straight interview unless that is what you want to do. This can be done over multiple sessions. As for the abstracts, I believed that their would be a bit more interest and I included this to narrow the field. At this moment it would be appreciated if you would acquiesce to this request, however it is no longer mandatory.

• If you want to participate just post in this thread "I want to participate."
  
• Phase I will still only include up to 20 participants.
  
• Even if I only have one participant I am still moving forward with this project.
  
• The release forms are still required for participation for your protection and mine.

Edited by Soulstrom, 23 February 2016 - 09:26 AM.

[Sandpit]

How long are you wanting the histories to be? What kind of format do you want? Essay style? Interview style?

Are we talking MWO history or just gaming history in general?

I'm interested in getting some more information on this. Shoot me a PM on here and we can talk a bit more about this project. I'm a sociology kinda guy so I love stuff like this.

[GRiPSViGiL]

Who doesn't like Oral?!

[Soulstrom]

Sandpit, on 23 February 2016 - 09:29 AM, said:

How long are you wanting the histories to be? What kind of format do you want? Essay style? Interview style?

Are we talking MWO history or just gaming history in general?

I'm interested in getting some more information on this. Shoot me a PM on here and we can talk a bit more about this project. I'm a sociology kinda guy so I love stuff like this.

The histories will consist of 2 hours [taken at agreed upon times and dates by the interviewer and interviewee] of audio. This roughly transcribes to approximately 30-40 pages of text that I would be transcribing.

The oral histories will be taken as .WAV files and uploaded as .MP3 as is the standard for digital preservation of oral histories as born digital creations.

These will not be taken in essay style format, but as an interview. I will provide a list of potential questions to the interviewee before the interview takes place to give direction to the oral history, however there is no requirement to follow these exactly.

I will be taking your MWO history, as well as your overall gaming history in general.

[Soulstrom]

We need more participation. Currently there are two members of our community that want to participate, which is great and this project will be moving forward. The question is can we get more??

[Sandpit]

Soulstrom, on 29 February 2016 - 09:28 AM, said:

We need more participation. Currently there are two members of our community that want to participate, which is great and this project will be moving forward. The question is can we get more??

I honestly think you'll have more success finding players interested in this in the faction sub-sections. Those tend to be the players more invested in the community overall and interested in participating in the actual community

[Pjwned]

I do have a pretty big personal history in online gaming that I could see myself sharing with somebody who wanted to know, but personally I would be more interested if it was more of a casual thing rather than a professional interview, and I would also be more interested if it was in a written format rather than an oral format.

Neat idea though, I might pass it along to somebody else to see if they're more interested.

[Scout Derek]

Going to move this over to the Community Ran Events.

[Soulstrom]

Scout Derek, on 29 February 2016 - 11:19 AM, said:

Going to move this over to the Community Ran Events.

Is this an event? I will have to re-title it to fit with this forum.