This blog post has been written by Francesca Mackenzie, Digital Archivist specialising in file formats for the The National Archives (UK) and Jonathan Isip, Assistant Professor at the University of the Philippines School of Library and Information Studies (UPSLIS).
From our own experience starting out in the field of Digital Preservation, and conversations with each other on the subject we had found a recurring theme that the technical jargon can be off putting and often create a sense that the job is more complex than it is. Often glossaries can be quite daunting, so the goal of Digital Preservation for 5 Year Olds was to lower some of the language barriers of entry that maybe didn’t need to really be there in the first place.
The game was inspired by conversations that the two of us had meeting at university about jargon busting and another conversation with a colleague about the merits and disadvantages of ChatGPT. One such benefit is the power of ChatGPT to summarise difficult concepts and make them more understandable and can be tailored to particular age ranges. Since then we have been using ChatGPT in the workplace to help explain new technology we are working with or concepts we are unfamiliar with. Thus the idea for the game was born.
Working together on the definitions and the creation of some awesome artwork, the two of us decided to create the game Digital Preservation for Five Year Olds, which takes terminology from the field of Digital Preservation and asks ChatGPT to explain the concept as if speaking to a five year old. With one of us working in the Philippines and the other in the UK all collaboration was pretty much done via message. The fun part was waking up in the morning to see exciting new things that had been done while you’d been asleep!
The game can be played in a few different ways but the goal is that more experienced practitioners may rethink the way they use the terminology they are used to, whilst those newer to the field may learn the definitions using simplified and fun descriptions.
The development process was also a chance to assess what concepts are at the core of digital preservation. Some terms did not translate well when simplified, often requiring a reference to another concept. For example there isn’t much difference to a 5 year old when it comes to the concepts of ‘Authenticity’ and ‘Fixity’. Other terms had similar explanations, and there are only so many ways we can use treasure chests, boxes, and building blocks as analogies!
The game was play tested in London at a Digital Preservation Games event and at the ICA Congress in Abu Dhabi. While participants with a background in digital preservation breezed through the deck, this provided an opportunity to explain unfamiliar terms to fellow players new to the field. Those more familiar with the terms found new ways to explain them, and take it back to basics.
Digital Preservation Games being played at the ICA Congress by the new professionals, image from @icanewprofessionals instagram.
Most games are designed to be competitive by nature and there is normally one victor. This didn’t sit well with us when digital preservation is very much a collaborative effort with a wonderful community behind it. This resulted in the community variant of the game rules that places an emphasis on communication and meeting people. Players would end up with one or two partners at the end of the game, the cheesy subtext being that you can never be alone when you do digital preservation!
The game was designed to be easy to print at minimal cost. Conveniently, this resulted in card art that evokes a child’s colouring book and which features several carrier media that may need preservation. Why not try to colour in the card backs and make your very own custom deck? Do you leave the obsolete media greyed out?
Digital Preservation for 5 Year Olds card design
The game can be downloaded from here and the hope is to create expansions in the near future such as Archives for 5 Year Olds and Conservation for 5 Year Olds. Maybe a storage media expansion pack as well, and possible versions in different languages. We want to encourage anyone to get in touch if you have any ideas, feedback, just feel like chatting or want to collaborate!
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