Talk to Your University Presses! Playing the Past Now Openly Online!

It’s been a while—8 years since Playing the Past: History and Nostalgia in Video Games was published. We’re happy to share that Playing the Past is now fully openly available online, with a permanent URL: http://ufdc.ufl.edu/AA00040386/00001
Please share and enjoy!
This belated update was made possible after being prompted by an odd conversation I had at a recent conference on the SciHub controversy. There, scholars noted a preference to have their own books on SciHub because it meant greater dissemination. This surprised me. I asked if folks had been in contact with their university presses to see about having some/all of their books openly online in collaboration with and in a manner that supported their presses, and they hadn’t. This made me realize that I also hadn’t been in contact on Playing the Past. I checked with Zach Whalen and emailed Vanderbilt University Press. Vanderbilt University Press responded the same day that the book was cleared to go online and sent a PDF for easy loading. This is a great example of what happens when we remember to ask—our scholarship becomes more accessible through library and university press collaboration. I’m very happy to be able to share that Playing the Past is now openly online! I’m also very, very happy to share this story of what can happen when we ask our university presses–university presses are great collaborators!