There was a great article in this weekend’s New York Times about NYPL adding video games to their collections and services for teens. They’ve also added gaming space in a bunch of their libraries. Check it out!
BTW, Jack Martin, who is quoted often in the story, will be here to do a workshop on serving GLBTQ teens on May 12. Cool!
The iLibrarian blog has a great posting on video games and libraries. It’s full of links to articles, presentations, books, and other blog posts. If you want to know more about this exciting topic, check it out now!
I just saw an article about a new accessory that Nintendo plans to introduce for the Wii – tentatively called the Wii Zapper, it will work with first-person shooter games. The device will give players the actual physical experience of pulling a “trigger” when shooting in the game. Battle sounds will be heard through the device. I don’t know why, but this seems like too much realism to me - take a look at their New Accessories web page and see what you think.
Gaming in the Library
Presented by
Jenny Levine, Internet Development Specialist and Strategy Guide, American Library Association
March 13, 2007, 11 a.m. – noon Eastern
Much is happening in the world of gaming right now, and it’s not just a lot of teenage boys sitting in the basement staring at a screen for hours on end. No, gaming has tremendous potential for libraries to reach out to new users, offer new services, and help complement efforts in community building, information literacy, and other areas. Don’t know much about gaming, but want to know how it can benefit libraries? Not sure what kinds of services your library could offer (especially on a limited budget)? Are you an avid gamer who would like to offer services, but you need help convincing others? Just want to hear what other libraries are doing? We’ll cover all of these topics and more in just one hour. Get the scoop that helps you clarify your thinking about gaming and libraries. Register now to take part in a FREE webinar that is sure to further your understanding of how to use gaming in your library.
Jenny Levine is the Internet development specialist and strategy guide at the American Library Association, where she splits her time between the Information Technology and Publishing departments. As part of her job, she blogs, creates wikis, bugs her colleagues to instant message, tests podcasting and vodcasting, teaches RSS, posts pictures on Flickr, explores Second Life, and does similar work with emerging technologies and tools in general. She is currently organizing the 2007 ALA TechSource Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium, which will take place on July 22-24, 2007, in Chicago. Last year, Jenny had the pleasure of traveling around the United States and Europe to give more than 30 presentations. She is also the author of The Shifted Librarian blog, http://theshiftedlibrarian.com, a site that helps librarians understand the coming impact of ubiquitous, always-on Internet (and hence ubiquitous, always-on information) on our profession. She wrote the September/October 2006 issue of “Library Technology Reports,” titled “Gaming in Libraries: Intersection of Services,” and is an avid proponent of gaming services in libraries.
Register for this SirsiDynix Institute webinar at:
https://events.livemeeting.com/961/7248/reg.aspx
