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The First Rule is Engagement

Jeff Trzeciak writes about gaming and libraries:

What does this have to do with designing better libraries? Well, quite a bit! All educators – including librarians – need to develop an understanding that technology has had a profound impact on how we act AND how we think. We need to develop systems that reflect how learners learn today. Libraries and library systems have traditionally taken a very linear and very text-based approach to accessing resources. This approach, it turns out, may actually be detrimental to the educational process.

The first rule of education is engagement. Games are by their very nature engaging. As a result, our users are turning up in these environments more and more often. They are there and we need to be there as well. So, my post is a question really….what is the library community doing about getting into gaming in significant ways? Who are the leaders in this area and what are they doing to make library resources and services more accessible through game environments?

And how is LIS education repsonding? Are we adding information about gaming programs to our courses. How does a thriving gaming program impact library management for example?

I think I'd like to hear Jeff and Jenny Levine chat about gaming, learning and the future of libraries. The "gaming power" alone might blow the roof off of the venue! It would be fascinating!


Just come to the TechSource Gaming, Learning, and Libraries Symposium and you can. :)


As an information literacy librarian, I'm very interested in how games are not only changing the way our patrons/students learn, but how we should be teaching to them. There's a lot of potential changes not just in collections, but in all services.

I took an "Educational Technology" course last year for my MLIS and we covered games as part of one week's reading topic. Granted, I'd love to see more, but it's a start. the more that we can show the effectiveness in the field... the more likely MLIS programs should be to incorporate games.

I'd love to see video games as part of Collection Development & Community/Outreach courses.

thanks for the work you do,

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