Internet Archives Checklist

Context

My dream is to have an Actual Play collection in the Internet Archive, similar to Attention K-mart Shoppers or the Classic Gaming Archive. This will be a collection of AP, both video and audio, that are stored with enough metadata and documentation that in 50 years, someone will be able to stumble on it and explore this strange and wonderful world. Right now, I'm looking to include anyone who wants to be included, so long as your show depicts a roleplaying game of some sort being played. Of course, you can upload to the Internet Archive on your own, you don't need my permission, but I'm hoping we can work together to make more consistent, meaningful metadata so that the works can be discovered in the future, and also I'm here to help. You can always email me at annethegnome@gmail.com or allmyfriendsarestories@gmail.com

For more detail, see my guide to digital preservation of Actual Play

The Checklist

  1. Contact me, and let me know that you're doing this. I can help if you get stuck!
    • Message me on BlueSky or email me at annethegnome@gmail.com
    • My goal is to get 50 shows together so we can pitch a collection to the Internet Archive, but in order to do that, we're going to work together (I don't have it in me to produce 50 shows!)
  2. Create an account on the Internet Archive
    • Go to archive.org and click “Sign Up” in the top right corner.
  3. Collect your files
    1. Find the highest quality versions of all episodes you can
    2. If possible, find a preferred file format
        3. Preferred formats for video
      • MPEG-4, Original resolution (.mp4)
      • ProRes, QuickTime (.mov), 4444 (XQ), 4444 or 422 HQ codec (.mov)
      • note: Library of Congress recommends IMF, FFV1, ProRes, MPEG-2, XDCAM with MPEG-4 listed as acceptable, but you know, most of us aren’t working with archival formats normally so I think it’s fine

        Preferred formats for audio
      • Broadcast Wave Format (BWF), highest resolution possible (.wav) -- Broadcast Wave is a special kind of WAVE file with embedded metadata — if sorting that out seems like a headache, use a normal .wav
      • Free lossless audio codec (FLAC), highest resolution possible (.flac)
    3. Consider adding other files, like cover images, trailers, promo material, game supplements (ensure you have the copyright)
    4. If your AP is only audio, consider uploading an image so that it appears on the browse screen
  4. Decide how to group your files
    • Ideally, we want to have a collection that contains a bunch of APs that people can browse. This means that we want to avoid having people upload every episode of a show with 500 episodes as seperate records -- it'll dominate the whole collection.
    • If your show has under 10 episodes, consider putting them all in one upload.
    • If your show has over 10 episodes but has multiple seasons, consider making a record for each season.
    • If your show is really just 500 episodes with no real grouping, consider making an arbitrary grouping, like "episodes 1-50", "episodes 51-100" etc.
  5. Copy a group of files to a single folder (if possible)
    • If you don't have the hard drive space to make copies, check for dependancies (is anything referring to these files?) and consider making an exact copy elsewhere, like a flash drive.
  6. Rename files
    • Name your files: ShowName-# (for episode number) or ShowName-YYYYMMDD, or create your own naming convention
      • Use CamelCase instead of spaces (it makes computers happy but it still fairly readable)
      • Use YYYYMMDD as the date format to avoid confusion and allow for easy sorting by date
      • Include the show name in your file name - this can be a shortened version if you have a long show name, but put the full name in the metadata
      • If you have a show that has multiple arcs, you can do ShowName-ArcName-# (e.g. Dimension20-OnABus-1.mov)
        • Whatever file naming convention you choose, keep it consistent! If it’s not obvious, consider adding a line
  7. Create documentation
    • Create a file in notepad called ReadMe.txt (using Notepad or TextEdit). For each episode (use your discretion), document the following:
      1. Release title
      2. Release date
      3. Producer or studio, including email contact
      4. Distributor name (if relevant)
      5. Distribution platform(s) (such as twitch, youtube, spotify etc)
      6. Country of origin (if relevant)
      7. Language
      8. Duration (how long the video or audio is)
      9. Cast names (full names, if possible, and handles) and their roles
      10. Crew names (same as above — record the names of anyone who contributed) and their roles
      11. Game system used (including version)
      12. License information (see licensing)
        Bonus:
      • Include additional information about the project's creation. Was it live? Pre-recorded? In studio? As part of a bigger initiative? All that context matters!
      • If you used others' material in your work, like royalty-free music or art assets, consider adding attribution if feasible.
      • You can also add content warnings or any other explanatory text here. Anything you'd like to communicate to someone who stumbled on this without context!
  8. Select files to upload
    • Go to archive.org and click "Upload" in the top right corner.
    • Drag the files from the folder to the uploader (or use the browse function to navigate to them). You can upload many files at once.
  9. Fill in Internet Archive metadata
    • Item Title: [The name of your show]
    • Page URL: [The name of your show, if possible, or the name of your show + AP]
    • Description: [A description of your show. Assume the reader is not familiar with actual play. Feel free to add as much detail as you want about the context in which your show was made. You can also add information from your ReadMe here, such as cast names]
    • Subject Tags: [add these, all lowercase: actual play, ttrpg, tabletop roleplaying games] [add additional tags that relate the theme, genre and audience for your show, such as LGBTQ, horror, scifi, fantasy adventure]
    • Collection: Community Movies [or whatever the default is for audio] (for now! we will have our own soon)
    • Creator: [The producer's name]
    • Date: [The date the show was first published -- if you're including multiple episodes, consider the first day of the first episode]
    • Language: [Primary language used in your show]
    • License: [I recommend "Creative Commons, Allow Remixing, Require Share-Alike". See more details about what these mean here)
  10. Start upload
    • If you are using a laptop, make sure it is plugged in. Try uploading 2 or 3 files at a time, depending on the size (I found that uploading too much at once lead to more errors). You have to babysit it a little!
    • If your upload gets interupted, don't panic! You won't lose the files that have already uploaded. Their uploaded allows for interuptions without having the whole upload fail.
    • Be patient. This may take several attempts.
  11. Verify upload
    • Check that the upload succeeded. You should be able to check the URL, click around. Make sure that the audio and video playback. Check that everything looks how you want. If something is off, you can edit it.
  12. Send me the link
    • You did it!! Email me at allmyfriendsarestories@gmail.com with Internet Archive in the subject heading and the URL to your record. I'm keeping track. Once we have enough, I'll use these as evidence for why we should have a collection!
    • Celebrate! That's quite a bit of work that you just did for the public good, the good of people you may never meet, and an artform that will outlive us all. Thank you! You rock! Have a little treat.

FAQ

My show isn't done! Can I upload the first few episodes and add to it later?

Yes! You can continue to add files to your record on the Internet Archive. You can also create a new record for another season of your show, if the number of files in one record is getting unwieldy. I say "record" to refer to the page that looks like this which contains all the descriptive information about the show, and can include many files.