Archiving the '90s

   Archives are important to our society because they act as a point of reference for viewers to locate and utilize important works in their research. Without archives to keep historical and other relevant information categorized, it is possible for important aspects of research to missed or overlooked during examination.

This week in class, our tribe discussed the idea of archives, in addition to taking time to explore these web pages and recognize their importance to the DH field. An archive, or an accumulation of historical records; as noted by Wikipedia, is a place used to store and categorize a series of events related to a specific topic in one general location.

   The idea of an archive is about combining many ideas of a specific topic into one well organized area. This benefits society with the quick and helpful location of the information they need. When information is quickly accessible and no important aspects are misplaced or left to be searched for, we as people can quickly learn and benefit from the source in an efficient manner.

Ultimately, the information stored in archives is used as a tool to increase the intelligence of a viewer interested in that specific topic. Archives take this important information and present it in a manner that creates a more efficient learning environment for the audience that is viewing it.

During class, our tribe was challenged to come up with a pitch for an archive. We came up with creating an archive of discontinued toys from the 90s. Our vision is to capture the time frame of 90s by archiving the most nostalgic component for the members of our tribe, toys. As “90s kids” we grew up with a lot of these toys and looking back at them brings with it so many fond childhood memories, this is the feeling we want to produce for people in creating this archive.

      Since these toys are discontinued they are not easy to come by and in some cases only the most dedicated collectors have them, so  having them easily accessible over the internet makes them more ubiquitous. Not only with this archive of toys appeal to our generation, but it might also be of interest to the next one. The next generation can look back at this archive and see what the kids of yesterday were playing with as well as see how that compares to the toys of the present.

Magna-Doodle

Original Game Boy

The toys showcased in this archive include, but are not limited to: the Game Boy, Polly Pocket, Beanie Babies, Easy Bake Ovens, Magna-Doodle, and The Viewmaster. All these toys will come with a picture of what the toy looked like in factory new condition and will have a description of what the toy is, accompanied by brief explanation on how the toy was played with.

Above all, our tribe believes it is important for someone of our generation to create this archive, because it encase the toys we grew up with. Ultimately, sharing a piece of our past with an audience can be special and a lot of these toys shaped who we are today. In short, this archive sets to display the toys of the past and shine a spotlight on a small portion of our childhood for present and future generations.

Furbies

Beanie Babies