Gaming in Libraries

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Gaming in Libraries

• New Trends

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What We Are Going to Cover

• Brief Recap of Why Games are Important
• Examples of the Marketing Potential of Games in
  Libraries
• Examples of Things You Can Do in Your Library

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Why Should I Care About Games?

• Whats the average game players age?
• 33
• What percentage of people over the age of 50 play
  video games?
• 24
• Who is a bigger part of the game playing
  population women over 18 or boys between 6 and
  17?
• Women over 18 (31)
• Boys are 20

Numbers from the Entertainment Software
Association's 2007 Sale, Usage and Data Survey
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What Does This Mean?

• Many adults and teens equate games as a medium
  with movies, books and music.
• Games appeal to all ages and both genders

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What is Happening Now

• How many libraries have some form of in-house
  game activity?
• 40
• What percentage of the librarians surveyed
  reported that attendees returned to the library
  for non-game related activities?
• 76

Go Back to Start Gathering Baseline Information
about Gaming in Libraries by Scott Nicholson,
Associate Professor, Syracuse University School
of Information Studies.
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What Does It All Mean?

• Games Have Become Common in Libraries
• Libraries Are Using Games to Reach New Customers
• Games Have Educational Value

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Educational Value of Games

• Many games are intellectually rich environments
• Games arent in place of literary activities
  they are a reading and writing activity
• Promotes a variety of career skills
• Modding
• Teaching
• Positive social interaction

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Using Games to Teach Customers and Staff

• Lets them work at their own pace
• Makes learning more fun
• Students with certain learning styles will retain
  the information better
• Advertises services and teaches concepts to
  patrons who use the library website

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University of Waterloo
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More Waterloo
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Even More Waterloo
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Carnegie Mellon University

• Teach students how to shelve
• Avoids using valuable staff time for teaching the
  same thing over and over
• Easy to evaluate student pages understanding of
  Library of Congress
• Teach reference
• Shows what is actually involved with working at a
  reference desk

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Orange County Library

• Using a Game to Advertise Services
• Traditional arcade style shooting game with
  anthropomorphic orange
• Shows the player the different types of materials
  available at the library
• At the end of the game, the player sees the
  gaming programs and books about designing video
  games at the library

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I Dont Know How to Program and I Want a Game

• PMOG
• Doesnt require technical knowledge
• Fun
• Can only be used to teach online
• Learn How to Do It
• Gamemaker
• Outsource
• Have someone else build a game for you

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What Makes a Good Game

• Have a Point to Your Game
• Remember It Should Still Be Fun!
• Be Open to Feedback and Use It

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For More Information

• http//animeted.org/4librarians/video-games/Video-
  games-in-libraries.htm
• Video Games in Libraries
• www.ydacs.com/www.ydacs.com/
• Further Reading
• Gazer, S. (2006, November 10). Video games. CQ
  Researcher, 16, 937-960. Retrieved July 14, 2008,
  from CQ Researcher Online, http//library.cqpress.
  com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2006111000.
• Kathy
• kmakens_at_durhamcountync.gov