I'm working with some great legal scholars on an analysis of problems in software preservation, and are finding great archivists, but they often can't tell us much about what researchers would like to do with software that's been archived if they could. We've heard from the archivists that generally researchers want to access content by using obsolete software, and we understand that sometimes you might be interested in studying versions or iterations of the content that might be stored on archived software (e.;g. a WordPerfect file on an author's laptop) but we're also thinking that people might want to have access to archived software for other kinds of research as well. We hypothesize that people might want to study the history of software, or to analyze activity on a gaming platform, or....gosh, we don't know. Have you had a project be frustrated because you couldn't go to a library or archive (virtually or physically) and get access to archived software? If so we'd love to hear about it in any way you'd like to tell us. Feel free to share the request. -- Patricia Aufderheide, University Professor, School of Communication Founder, Center for Media & Social Impact American University 4400 Massachusetts Av., NW American University, Washington, DC 20016-8017 McKinley Hall 323 @paufder @cmsimpact cmsimpact.org paufder@american.edu 202-885-2069 office <202-643-5356> 240-643-4805 mobile <202-643-5356> "The world we have received also belongs to those who follow us." --Pope Francis