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Arcade, Videogame, Slot Machine, Vending, and Coin-Operated Machine Library

International Arcade Museum Library, Inc. - Pasadena, California

The International Arcade Museum Library, Inc. is a non-profit public benefit corporation located in Pasadena, California, which makes available physical (non-electronic) reference items for in-person review. It also works to scan and provide reference material online. Furthermore, it manages a small exhibit that is rotated on a regular basis, usually with some machines made between the 1880s and 1950. The International Arcade Museum Library, Inc. name is used under license from The International Arcade Museum.

The library's hours of operation are generally Monday thru Friday, 9am to 5pm PST. NO WALK-IN VISITORS WILL BE ALLOWED ENTRANCE WITHOUT AN APPOINTMENT. Appointments can be made in one or two hour blocks, and are available at no charge. Appointments are required and generally must be made at least two weeks in advance. This allows us time to schedule a researcher to assist you, and time to pull any relevant materials you might be interested in as much of it is located in offsite storage. Since our office space is donated by WebMagic, Inc., it also gives WebMagic's security department time to screen and security approve our visitors.

The International Arcade Museum Library makes available not only its own holdings (not listed below), but also online holdings provided by the International Arcade Museum, as well as some physical holdings made available by the museum and by private collectors (partially listed below).

Online Resources:

    Reviews and Articles

    1. The Top 100 Videogames - The 'Top' from the first 4 decades of coin-operated video games. [links to klov.com]
    2. The Top 10 Non-Game Gifts for Gamers - December, 2008
    3. Book Review: The Art Of The Video Game

    General Information

    1. FAQ: Help for New Videogame Buyers
    2. Slot Machine Ownership Laws by State (Laws change, so check with your state if in doubt)

    PDF Library - Free Online Copies of Magazines, Catalogs, Flyers, etc.

    1. Coin-Op and Arcade Scanned Virtual Library (PDF) with Search Engine - including the first 10 years of Coin Slot Magazine!
    2. Music Scanned Virtual Library (PDF) with Search Engine - 1890s-1950s - Music Trade Review, and Presto Magazine (some but very little coin-op)

    Technical References:

    1. Pinball Machine Manuals
    2. Lawnmowerman's video game check sums - 1998
    3. Midway MCR pin-out tables


Physical Library Holdings:

    McLemore Coin-Operated Machine Library - Card catalog of physical, non-digital, paper items:

    1. Auction Catalogs with Coin-Operated and/or Arcade Machines
    2. Manufacturer Catalogs, Coin-Op Machines
    3. Magazines - Coin-Op Machine, Arcade, Slot Machine, Trade Stim, Mechanical Music, and Videogame
      • Antique Amusements, Automaten Markt, Automatic Age, Billboard, COCA Times, Coin Machine Journal, Coin Machine Review,
      • Coin Slot, Der Automat, Gameroom, Marketplace, Operator's Automatic Gazette, Pacific Coin Machine Review,
      • Seeburg Illuminator, Spinning Reels, Vend, and many more...
    4. Manuals, Machine Operations and Technical

Archive/Obsolete Online References:

    1. Text Summary of KLOV® Database - 745k, August 8, 2002.
    2. KLOV Wireless Edition for the Palm 7 - last updated in 2001.

The International Arcade Museum Library ("IAML") is separate from the International Arcade Museum ("IAM"), and operates under a trademark license. It is dedicated to making available reference m aterial to hobbiests, searchers, and the general public. Resources are extremely limited at this time so currently the library is only able to assist with research requests made in-person. The International Arcade Museum Library has access to everthing in the McLemore Coin-Operated Machine Library, as well as to thousands of other holdings of interest, particularly in regards to machines made before 1950. Additionally, the library has access to electronic research material provided by the International Arcade Museum, as well as to some of its own eletronic holdings. Most of these electronic holdings are available here online.

* We are working to scan some of this material for placement online. At this time, we do not have the resources to fulfill content requests from individual collectors as what limited resources we do have needs to focus on placing the greatest amount of information online for the common good of all. If you have coin-op magazines or other resources that contain information about coin-op machines that do not appear on the lists below, please contact us if you would be willing to loan, donate, or sell said content to us. Thank you.


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© 1995-2009 by The International Arcade Museum®. Portions (c) 2009 by The International Arcade Museum Library, Inc. All rights reserved.

If you wish to use material from our web sites, please take a look at our Acceptable Use, Copyright, and Trademark Page. Except as described on that page, any use of the information found here may not be copied or reprinted on any medium, either physical or electronic, without the express written permission of The International Arcade Museum.