Travis Wagner (they/them)
@drtlwagner.bsky.social
Cyborg academic in a world of robot academics. Assistant Professor in the iSchool at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. Preserving queer history and obsolete technology one VHS tape at a time.
http://travislwagner.com
http://travislwagner.com
Reposted by Travis Wagner (they/them)
Then later in February @drtlwagner.bsky.social will kick off a new "Media Necromancy" speaker series—we’re still chatting with folks about ideas, but are hoping for 1-2 more talks in this series over the spring semester, with more next year skeuomorph.ischool.illinois.edu/our-research...
January 16, 2026 at 4:56 PM
Then later in February @drtlwagner.bsky.social will kick off a new "Media Necromancy" speaker series—we’re still chatting with folks about ideas, but are hoping for 1-2 more talks in this series over the spring semester, with more next year skeuomorph.ischool.illinois.edu/our-research...
Reposted by Travis Wagner (they/them)
Please consider submitting to this conference if you're a community preservationist! The first Save the Games was a terrific place for the industry and community to meet together on their work
Save the Games 2.0 Call for Papers is open! The symposium will be held at The Strong in Rochester, NY on July 29 and 30. The deadline for submissions if February 20, 2026! www.museumofplay.org/save-the-gam...
January 13, 2026 at 1:12 AM
Please consider submitting to this conference if you're a community preservationist! The first Save the Games was a terrific place for the industry and community to meet together on their work
I’m found this unopened package of Kool-aid in a comic book from 1996. I’m pretty sure if I drank it I would immediately be dropped into eXistenZ
January 11, 2026 at 5:58 PM
I’m found this unopened package of Kool-aid in a comic book from 1996. I’m pretty sure if I drank it I would immediately be dropped into eXistenZ
My New Year's resolution to take the stairs more isn't going well so far. Meanwhlie, my additional resolution of blocking/reporting every scammy AI add I get on my social media is going off without a hitch.
January 7, 2026 at 10:52 PM
My New Year's resolution to take the stairs more isn't going well so far. Meanwhlie, my additional resolution of blocking/reporting every scammy AI add I get on my social media is going off without a hitch.
I got a device that lets me play Game Boy cartridges of all kinds directly on my computer. Recently, they updated the software to allow the Game Boy camera to work as well. I used it to take this era-appropriate image. Meanwhile, I am trying to figure out how to get Zoom to read it as my camera.
January 5, 2026 at 10:24 PM
I got a device that lets me play Game Boy cartridges of all kinds directly on my computer. Recently, they updated the software to allow the Game Boy camera to work as well. I used it to take this era-appropriate image. Meanwhile, I am trying to figure out how to get Zoom to read it as my camera.
Reposted by Travis Wagner (they/them)
I love locations that aren’t on the map in RPGs
January 2, 2026 at 2:35 AM
I love locations that aren’t on the map in RPGs
Reposted by Travis Wagner (they/them)
Halo 2 Skin for Windows Media Player 10
December 28, 2025 at 6:56 PM
Halo 2 Skin for Windows Media Player 10
My partner and I watched Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas and I am happy to report that it led to me discovering my new favorite band The Riverbottom Nightmare Band
m.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ3c...
m.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ3c...
Riverbottom Nightmare Band | Emmet Otter's Jug-Band Christmas | The Jim Henson Company
YouTube video by The Jim Henson Company
m.youtube.com
December 25, 2025 at 2:36 AM
My partner and I watched Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas and I am happy to report that it led to me discovering my new favorite band The Riverbottom Nightmare Band
m.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ3c...
m.youtube.com/watch?v=jJ3c...
New article out by me and @ashleyblewer.com titled “Each character you create requires a full 15 blocks!” Preserving Video Game Memory Cards in the Age of Cloud Storage." In it, we examine the sociotechnical challenges of preserving video game memory cards.
Read it here:
tinyurl.com/53pnv64b
Read it here:
tinyurl.com/53pnv64b
“Each character you create requires a full 15 blocks!” preserving video game memory cards in the age of cloud storage
The act of saving in video games has shifted from a material, active practice to a passive, near imperceptible occurrence. However, until systems like the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3 were releas...
www.tandfonline.com
December 20, 2025 at 4:46 PM
New article out by me and @ashleyblewer.com titled “Each character you create requires a full 15 blocks!” Preserving Video Game Memory Cards in the Age of Cloud Storage." In it, we examine the sociotechnical challenges of preserving video game memory cards.
Read it here:
tinyurl.com/53pnv64b
Read it here:
tinyurl.com/53pnv64b
Reposted by Travis Wagner (they/them)
I’m passing on a question from @drtlwagner.bsky.social & their students: Do you know of existing/in process book history work on clip art? I know Shep’s history of print emoji & anecdotally I know some early clip art remediated printer’s ornaments—as does the "font" Wingdings—anyone digging in more?
December 17, 2025 at 8:39 PM
I’m passing on a question from @drtlwagner.bsky.social & their students: Do you know of existing/in process book history work on clip art? I know Shep’s history of print emoji & anecdotally I know some early clip art remediated printer’s ornaments—as does the "font" Wingdings—anyone digging in more?
Truly stoked to have my favorite academic partner in crime continue teaching with us! I’m gonna insist all of our students take classes with Ashley!
Can I say something professional on here? 🎙️ Starting next semester, I'll be teaching av preservation at the U of Illinois ischool~~!
December 16, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Truly stoked to have my favorite academic partner in crime continue teaching with us! I’m gonna insist all of our students take classes with Ashley!
Really excited to be both presenting as part of this series and to be helping @ryancordell.org conceptualize the series as well! More from me hopefully in the coming months on this intersection between queerness, archives, and format obsolescence!
Our inaugural speaker will be @drtlwagner.bsky.social on "The Persistence of Obsolescence in Queer Information & Media Technologies," showing how "obsolescence can serve as a generative tool to think about the past, present, & future of queer archives" skeuomorph.ischool.illinois.edu/our-research...
December 15, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Really excited to be both presenting as part of this series and to be helping @ryancordell.org conceptualize the series as well! More from me hopefully in the coming months on this intersection between queerness, archives, and format obsolescence!
Reposted by Travis Wagner (they/them)
📄'How do LGBTQ+ library catalog users talk about subject searching?'🔽
doi.org/10.1108/JD-1...
#Library
#Research
#Catalogue
#Metadata
#LGBTQ
doi.org/10.1108/JD-1...
#Library
#Research
#Catalogue
#Metadata
#LGBTQ
How do LGBTQ+ library catalog users talk about subject searching?
Purpose. Subject searching in the library catalog is a challenge for any user, but may be especially so for members of marginalized groups whose language diverges even further from established systems...
doi.org
December 15, 2025 at 9:32 AM
📄'How do LGBTQ+ library catalog users talk about subject searching?'🔽
doi.org/10.1108/JD-1...
#Library
#Research
#Catalogue
#Metadata
#LGBTQ
doi.org/10.1108/JD-1...
#Library
#Research
#Catalogue
#Metadata
#LGBTQ
Proposing a society level resolution for the new year: Bands should only be able to cover “Hunger Strike” by Temple of the Dog
December 11, 2025 at 4:34 AM
Proposing a society level resolution for the new year: Bands should only be able to cover “Hunger Strike” by Temple of the Dog
Reposted by Travis Wagner (they/them)
We did a thing!
Thanks to the EveryLibrary team and to all of the wonderful contributors!
p.s. a webinar series highlighting some of the articles is coming in early 2026.
www.everylibraryinstitute.org/everylibrary...
Thanks to the EveryLibrary team and to all of the wonderful contributors!
p.s. a webinar series highlighting some of the articles is coming in early 2026.
www.everylibraryinstitute.org/everylibrary...
EveryLibrary Institute Announces a Special Issue of The Political Librarian, “Weaponized Politics and Dismantled Policies: Defending Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in America's Libraries and Cultura...
EveryLibrary Institute is a 501c3 organization that supports library funding in the United States.
www.everylibraryinstitute.org
December 9, 2025 at 7:13 PM
We did a thing!
Thanks to the EveryLibrary team and to all of the wonderful contributors!
p.s. a webinar series highlighting some of the articles is coming in early 2026.
www.everylibraryinstitute.org/everylibrary...
Thanks to the EveryLibrary team and to all of the wonderful contributors!
p.s. a webinar series highlighting some of the articles is coming in early 2026.
www.everylibraryinstitute.org/everylibrary...
Move over media archaeology we are trying to actively revive these skeletons 🧙📼💀
Yesterday @drtlwagner.bsky.social & I were brainstorming a new @skeuomorphpress.org speaker series—essentially each talk would unpack how a old medium is interwoven in the design/function/&c. of a newer medium—& one of their students suggested we call the series "Media Necromancy"—just *chef’s kiss*
December 10, 2025 at 5:12 PM
Move over media archaeology we are trying to actively revive these skeletons 🧙📼💀
A new article is out in Cataloging and Classification Quarterly, where my colleague Karen Wickett and I explore how the LCSH "Conduct of Life" enacts, often anti-queer, ideological work on information objects. Read the article here:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
“Works Containing Moral Guidance and Advice to the Individual”: Examining the Ideological Underpinnings of the Library of Congress’ Conduct of Life Subject Heading
This paper explores the ideological underpinnings of the Library of Congress subject heading “Conduct of Life” in catalog records where it is used as a subdivision in relation to queerness. Using F...
www.tandfonline.com
December 2, 2025 at 5:46 PM
A new article is out in Cataloging and Classification Quarterly, where my colleague Karen Wickett and I explore how the LCSH "Conduct of Life" enacts, often anti-queer, ideological work on information objects. Read the article here:
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
Just found out that Jimmy Cliff passed away. I guess it is time to give this song a ton of spins and watch the movie that gives it its namesake. There's truly nothing quite like it.
youtu.be/BpQrLUopf-k?...
youtu.be/BpQrLUopf-k?...
The Harder They Come
YouTube video by Jimmy Cliff - Topic
youtu.be
November 24, 2025 at 9:41 PM
Just found out that Jimmy Cliff passed away. I guess it is time to give this song a ton of spins and watch the movie that gives it its namesake. There's truly nothing quite like it.
youtu.be/BpQrLUopf-k?...
youtu.be/BpQrLUopf-k?...
I think I have found what is officially the best name for a backup band ever:
youtu.be/lc-pIH0CBxM?...
youtu.be/lc-pIH0CBxM?...
Jiro Inagaki & Soul Media - Breeze
YouTube video by Terminal Passage
youtu.be
November 23, 2025 at 11:01 PM
I think I have found what is officially the best name for a backup band ever:
youtu.be/lc-pIH0CBxM?...
youtu.be/lc-pIH0CBxM?...
In my IS 308: Race, Gender, and Information Technology class, I asked students to make zines today about inclusive tech issues, and they insisted that I should also participate. I thought that was a fair request and took a swing at making my own (though I didn't finish)
November 11, 2025 at 7:40 PM
In my IS 308: Race, Gender, and Information Technology class, I asked students to make zines today about inclusive tech issues, and they insisted that I should also participate. I thought that was a fair request and took a swing at making my own (though I didn't finish)
Reposted by Travis Wagner (they/them)
Next in New Currents, @drtlwagner.bsky.social & Alison Harding use traditional analyses to examine work created using generative AI in ""Remember, love knows no boundaries and comes in many forms": The conceptualization of queerness within AI-generated fan works"! Read it in #TWC46:
buff.ly
November 11, 2025 at 2:27 PM
Next in New Currents, @drtlwagner.bsky.social & Alison Harding use traditional analyses to examine work created using generative AI in ""Remember, love knows no boundaries and comes in many forms": The conceptualization of queerness within AI-generated fan works"! Read it in #TWC46:
Hit an important Google Scholar citation mark today 😈 #hailsatan
November 9, 2025 at 9:06 PM
Hit an important Google Scholar citation mark today 😈 #hailsatan
Reposted by Travis Wagner (they/them)
New survey researching how recent policy shifts within the U.S. in higher education are impacting DEI reparative metadata/cataloging efforts in academic libraries & archives in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico. 📚 #critcat uncg.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Ramification of DEI shifts in higher education on reparative cataloging activity
Survey for "Ramification of DEI shifts in higher education on reparative cataloging activity".
uncg.qualtrics.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:36 PM
New survey researching how recent policy shifts within the U.S. in higher education are impacting DEI reparative metadata/cataloging efforts in academic libraries & archives in the U.S., Canada, or Mexico. 📚 #critcat uncg.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
Students in my Information Organization and Access course have an assignment where they make their own taxonomy on a topic of their choosing. One student did TV shows, and included I Think You Should Leave, and I felt obligated to include this comment.
October 23, 2025 at 8:28 PM
Students in my Information Organization and Access course have an assignment where they make their own taxonomy on a topic of their choosing. One student did TV shows, and included I Think You Should Leave, and I felt obligated to include this comment.
Stoked to share my op-ed in The Hill that I wrote as part of The OpEd Project 2025–26 Public Voices Fellows at UofI. In it, I talk about historical trends in automation and how it might inform current understandings of anti-trans legislation. Check it out here: thehill.com/opinion/civi...
thehill.com
October 23, 2025 at 2:33 PM
Stoked to share my op-ed in The Hill that I wrote as part of The OpEd Project 2025–26 Public Voices Fellows at UofI. In it, I talk about historical trends in automation and how it might inform current understandings of anti-trans legislation. Check it out here: thehill.com/opinion/civi...