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JPEG of Henry E Lowood

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City: Stanford University, CA
Telephone:
  1-650-723-4602

Teaching & Professional Interests

  • Digital / Virtual Libraries
  • History of Computing and New Media
  • Game Studies

Research Interests

  • Arts / Humanities Literatures
  • Collections Development
  • Digital / Virtual Libraries
  • Information and Society / Culture
  • History of Computing and New Media
  • Game Studies

Dr. Henry E. Lowood

Lecturer

Henry Lowood received his B.A. in History (minor: Physics) from UC Riverside, followed by Masters Degrees in Library and Information Science and History and a Ph.D. (History of Science & Technology) from UC Berkeley. At Stanford, he has been Curator for History of Science & Technology Collections since 1983, and Film & Media Studies since 2005. He is a lecturer in the Science, Technology and Society Program and the Introduction to the Humanities program at Stanford.

Active in the history and preservation of digital games, virtual worlds and simulations, he has directed the How They Got Game Project at Stanford since 2000. Among the initiatives undertaken by the How They Got Game Project, he is curator of The Machinima Archive and the Archiving Virtual Worlds collection hosted by the Internet Archive and leads Stanford's work on the Preserving Virtual Worlds project, funded by the U.S. Library of Congress and the Institute of Museum and Library Services. He has published widely in history of science and technology, library and archival studies, and digital game studies.

Courses Taught

Education

  • Ph.D. (History) University of California, Berkeley (1987) (Primary Field: History of Science & Technology)
  • MLIS (Masters of Library and Information Science) University of California, Berkeley (1983)
  • MA (History) University of California, Berkeley (1977)
  • AB University of California, Riverside (1975) summa cum laude

Academic & Professional Experience

  • Editor (with Michael Nitsche), The Machinima Reader (exp. May 2011).
  • Curator for History of Science and Technology Collections, Stanford University Libraries (1983-)
  • Curator for Film & Media Studies, Stanford University Libraries (2005-)
  • Co-Director, Stanford Humanities Laboratory (2004-)
  • Curator for Germanic Collections, Stanford University Libraries (1990-)
  • Advisor, Concentration in Digital Humanities, Interdisciplinary Studies in Humanities (ID Humanities Major)
  • Lecturer/Affiliated Faculty: History and Philosophy of Science Program; Science and Technology Studies Program (both since 1985); German Studies Department (1990-)
  • Head, Humanities and Area Studies Group, Stanford Univ. Libraries (1996-2001)
  • Head Librarian, Physics Library, Stanford University (1983-1990)
  • Senior Fellow, Rockefeller Fellowship in the Humanities, Department of the History of Science, The University of Oklahoma (1989)
  • Acting Assistant Professor, Division of Library and Information Science, San José State University (1987)
  • Research Associate (NIH Grant LM-03424, "Medical and Scientific Books in Medieval Libraries", P.I.: Dr. Karen Reeds) (1981-1984)
  • Acting Instructor, History Department, University of California, Berkeley (1982-1983)
  • Bibliographic Assistant to the Director for Collection Development, Stanford University (1981-1983)
  • Teaching Assistant, History Department, University of California, Berkeley (1980-1981)
  • Rare Books Specialist, Department of Special Collections, Stanford University (1980-1981)
  • DAAD Research Fellow, Universität Bonn and Herzog-August-Bibliothek, West Germany (1978-1980)
  • Bibliographer II, Step IV (Research Assistant), Office for the History of Science and Technology, University of California, Berkeley (1976-1978)
  • Grader, History Department, University of California, Berkeley (1976-1977)
  • Research Assistant, History Department, University of California, Riverside (1975)

Selected Publications  (last five years only)

  • Editor (with Michael Nitsche), The Machinima Reader (exp. 2010)
  • "Documenting Mixed Reality Performance: the Case of CloudPad." (With Gabriella Giannachi, et al.) Submitted to Digital Creativity.
  • "Memento Mundi: Are Virtual Worlds History?" In: Digital Media: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on History, Preservation, and Ontology, eds. Megan Winget and William Aspray. Scarecrow Press, forthcoming 2011.
  • "Beyond the Game": the Olympic Ideal and Competitive e-Sports," first draft submitted to: Play and Politics: Games, Civic Engagement, and Social Activism, eds. Douglas Thomas & Josh Fouts.
  • Co-editor (with Susan Rojo and Matteo Bittanti), "The Machinima Issue" of Journal of Visual Culture, 10(1).
  • "A "Different Technical Approach": Introduction to the Special Issue on Machinima," Journal of Visual Culture, 10(1), 3-5.
  • "Perfect Capture: Three Takes on Replay, Machinima and the History of Virtual Worlds," Journal of Visual Culture, 10(1), 113-24.
  • "Wirklichkeitssituation = State of Reality," (with Tim Lenoir), in: Serious Games: Krieg, Medien, Kunst, eds. Ralf Beil and Antje Ehmann (Ostfildern: Hathe Cantz Verlag, 2011): 185-86. Excerpt from "Kriegstheater".
  • "Preserving Virtual Worlds: Final Report" (with Jerome McDonough, Robert Olendorf, et al.), deposited in the Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship, 31 August 2010.
  • "The Future of Virtual Worlds," (with William Sims Bainbridge, Wayne Lutters and Diana Rhoten," in: Online Worlds: The Convergence of the Real and the Virtual, ed. William Sims Bainbridge (London: Springer, 2010): 289-302.
  • Guest editor, July-Sept. 2009 issue of IEEE Annals of the History of Computing.
  • "Video Games in Computer Space: The Complex History of Pong," IEEE Annals in the History of Computing (July-Sept. 2009): 5-19.
  • "Putting Politics Into Play: Three Recent Books on Virtual Worlds," American Journal of Play 2:1 (Summer 2009)
  • "Players are Artists," in: The Art of Games: Nuove Frontiere tra Gioco e Bellezza, ed. Debora Ferrari and Luca Traini. (Aosta: Regione Auonoma Valle d"Aosta, 2009): 190-93. Also in Italian trans. as "I giocatore come artisti," pp. 194-97.
  • Editor, Before It's Too Late: A Digital Game Preservation White Paper (N.p.: International Game Developers Association, 2009; distributed by Lulu Press) Also published in American Journal of Play 2:2 (Fall 2009).
  • "Warcraft Adventures: Texts, Replay and Machinima in a Game-Based Story World," in: Third Person: Authoring and Exploring Vast Narratives, ed. Pat Harrigan and Noah Wardrip-Fruin (Cambridge: MIT Press, 2009): 407-27.
  • "Digital Curation of Humanistics, Multimedia Materials: Lessons Learned and Future Directions" (Panel abstract, with Megan Winget, Caroline Frick, Jerome McDonough, and Allen Renear), Proceedings of DigCCurr 2009: Digital Curation - Practices, Promise & Prospects, ed. Helen R. Tibbo, et al. (Chapel Hill: School of Library and information Science, Univ. of North Carolina, 2009; distributed by Lulu Press): 42-43.
  • "Game Counter," in: The Object Reader, eds. Fiona Candlin and Raiford Guins (Abingdon, Eng., and New York: Routledge, 2009): 466-69.
  • "Game Capture: The Machinima Archive and the History of Digital Games," Mediascape: Journal of Cinema and Media Studies (Spring 2008).
  • "La cultura del replay. Performance, spettatorialità, gameplay," in: Schermi interattivi. Il cinema nei videogiochi, ed. Matteo Bittanti. (Rome: Meltimi, 2008): 69-94.
  • "Replay Culture: Performance and Spectatorship in Gameplay," in: L'homo videoludens: Videojocs, textualitat i narrativa interactiva, ed. Carlos A. Scolari (Vic: Eumo Editorial, 2008): 167-87.
  • "Impotence and Agency: Computer Games as a Post-9/11 Battlefield," in: Games Without Frontiers - War Without Tears. Computer Games as a Sociocultural Phenomenon, ed. Andreas Jahn-Sudmann & Ralf Stockmann. (London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008): 78-86.
  • "Found Technology: Players as Innovators in the Making of Machinima," in: Digital Youth, Innovation, and the Unexpected, ed. Tara McPherson. (Cambridge, Mass.: M.I.T. Press, 2007): 165-196. Macarthur Foundation Series on Digital Media and Learning. Also available: www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdf/10.1162/dmal.9780262633598.165 [PDF] link goes to non-SJSU web site); www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1162/dmal.9780262633598.165 [PDF plus] link goes to non-SJSU web site.
  • "It's Not Easy Being Green": Real-Time Game Performance in Warcraft," in: Videogame/Player/Text, eds. Barry Atkins and Tanya Krzywinska (Manchester, Eng.: Manchester Univ. Press; New York: Palgrave, 2007): 83-100.
  • "High-Performance Play: The Making of Machinima," in: Videogames and Art: Intersections and Interactions, eds. Andy Clarke and Grethe Mitchell (Londaon: Intellect Books; Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 2007): 59-79.
  • "Jon Haddock, Screenshots: Isometric Memories," in: GameScenes: Art in the Age of Videogames, eds. Matteo Bittanti and Domenico Quaranta (Milan: Johan & Levi editore, 2006): 15-39. Also in Italian trans. as "Jon Haddock, Screenshots: Ricordi isometrici," pp. 326-45.
  • Editor (with Tanya Krzywinska), World of Warcraft, Special issue of Games & Culture 1 (Oct. 2006): 279-413.
  • "Storyline, Dance/Music, or PvP? Game Movies and Community Players in World of Warcraft," Games & Culture 1 (Oct. 2006): 362-82.
  • "High-Performance Play: The Making of Machinima," Journal of Media Practice 7:1 (July 2006): 25-42.
  • "A Brief Biography of Computer Games," in: Playing Computer Games: Motives, Responses, and Consequences, eds. Peter Vorderer and Jennings Bryant. (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2006): 25-41.
  • "Virtual Reality." Encyclopædia Britannica (2006). Available via: Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service (7 June 2006), http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9001382; Encyclopedia Britannica Academic Edition (7 June 2006), search.eb.com/eb/article-9001382.
  • "Game Studies Now, History of Science Then," Games and Culture 1 (Jan. 2006): 78-82.

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