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!

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

• If you have missed previous SirsiDynix Institute events or are unable to make this one, we have an extensive archive posted at http://www.sirsidynixinstitute.com/archive.php. You can check out past webinars at any time.
• See the 2007 SirsiDynix Institute schedule at http://www.sirsidynixinstitute.com/.

Two Playstation2 consolesDance Dance Revolution Supernova gameTwo dance padsGuitar Hero 2 gameTwo guitar controllers 

You can see pictures of them on our new Equipment Loans page at this address: 

http://www.cmrls.org/services/equipment.html 

and the request form is at: 

http://www.cmrls.org/forms/equipmentrequestform.htm 

You can borrow one or both consoles for a game program, and one or both dance pads (if you use both pads, players can compete head to head). 

I’ll be happy to give you an orientation on how to set them up if you need it. Have fun!

~Maureen at CMRLS

“David Williamson Shaffer, an education science professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says schools should use games to prepare children to compete in the work force, where juggling technology is a daily requirement.

“People think that the way we teach kids in schools is the natural way we should learn,” said Shaffer, author of the book “How Computer Games Help Children Learn.”

“But young people in the United States today are being prepared for standardized jobs in a world that will, very soon, punish those who can’t innovate. We simply can’t ’skill and drill’ our way to innovation.”

Wow, that’s powerful! Read the complete article on the Reuters website.