video games + library = AMAZING

"At libraries, fun and games now the lure"
Mike Musgrove
The Washington Post
November 22, 2009

To keep up with the youth of the eMedia generation, libraries have started to house video game systems, controllers, and games. The ALA (American Library Association) supports and annual Gaming Day event that recently had its second celebration. Some libraries hold regular events for patrons to come and play video games together in the library. All of this is part of an attempt to attract a hard to reach demographic: young adult males. Patrons need not be shocked by this addition to the library collection as "libraries also carry CDs and DVDs." Musgrove also quotes the President of the ALA Camila Alire as saying, "We've always tried to meet the needs of users as new formats come out." In addition to video games the library also has many board games and other fun, family games available to anybody interested. Musgrove also points out that in general parents are very pleased with this new idea, one mother in his article is quoted as saying, "Getting kids into the library is a good thing... They're in the library and not out doing other stuff."

Something I found especially interesting in this article is a recent study mentioned by Musgrove about gamers and their reading habits: "video-game fans spend four times as much time reading reviews, blogs and strategy guides as they spend with a game controller in their hands." That is a lot of reading. I have also thought this was true, as a gamer myself I read forums and tutorials all the time and I am frustrated by people who say "people are reading less because of video games and computers." I don't think people are reading less I think the forms of what they read are changing; instead of reading a book a person might keep up with 5 different blogs and correspond with friends through e-mail and facebook. In any case, I am very excited to see libraries evolving with technology, this can only end well. Library as a place is becoming more and more important and fostering these sorts of activities are strengthening the libraries place in the hearts of the masses.

Libraries!

http://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/3623/Webster.pdf?sequence=2
Peter Webster
"Interconnected and Innovative Libraries: Factors Tying Libraries More Closely Together"
Library Trends (Volume 54, number 3, Winter 2006)


Peter Webster is a grad student at the University of Chicago studying library and information science. In his article "Interconnected and Innovative Libraries: Factors Tying Libraries More Closely Together" he discusses how new technology has changed the way libraries work on both small and large scales. Technology expands possibilities for libraries to be more effective but it is still a challenge to keep up with the fast paced technological flow. The technology we have already is being refined and reworked providing great opportunity for collaborative work between libraries and the more libraries that are collaborating the better the service will be (ILL, blogs and news feeds). New technology makes these already existing systems more cost and time effective. Webster is very supportive of the open software movement "for libraries to share software resources." He also discusses Centralized Services and how the ability and readiness of libraries to work together has developed these services all over the world. New services coming to light because of shifts in the publishing world along with a new openness to cooperate among libraries encourages people to start "building communities of interest for their products." This puts a lot more emphasis on user satisfaction and encourages user participation. Webster suggests that all of these things together are creating an "interconnected interdependent" new library.

Webster is on to something here and I think that this is the direction libraries are heading. In previous posts I have discussed the future of libraries and how library as place will be more important. Webster offers another dimension of the lasting library. There are really exciting things happening in the world of information science and I'm especially enthusiastic about the new relationships between publishing companies and libraries, I think this development could revolutionize the way people look at publishing companies.

Informaiton literacy

Information Navigation 101
Andrea L. Foster

My response:
In today's world college aged students are thought of as tech-savvy, advanced computer users. Unfortunately this is not the case when it comes to academic research. There is a huge problem with students whose research ability extends only to Google and Wikipedia. As Foster points out in "Information Navigation 101," librarians all over the world are very focused on increasing students' ability to find and evaluate scholarly information. Information literacy programs are springing up on campuses everywhere! Librarians are attempting to get the word out there about online resources: journals, book reviews, articles, primary sources... etc. There have been standardized tests created to evaluate student's information literacy skills. Some librarians think that standardized tests will not accurately show a person's ability to do meaningful research; instead they suggest a student be judged on research papers and different sorts of projects.

I totally agree that there is a huge problem among college aged students who don't know about all of the great online resources and how to obtain and access those resources. Standardized tests are horrible and don't work so I really think that is a horrible idea. The amount of information showing the ineffectiveness of standardized testing is present and growing and it is sad that anybody would want to continue in this awful tradition of rewarding fact memorization and punishing creativity and innovation. There are other ways to get a good reading of a person's level of information literacy like the projects and electronic portfolios talked about in the article, and those should be further explored.