I spent some time chatting with the various groups but the whole time I was wishing I had some board games (other than Scrabble) that I could bring out to engage them while they waited. I learned a bit about so called German or European board games at Computers in Libraries in April, but I also have a serious board gamer on staff. When I mentioned the idea of us getting some games for times when there’s an opportunity to engage people with content I could tell he was into it. In response he emailed me a list of potential games. I asked Adam if it was okay and I’m sharing the list here.

Games for all ages and skills:

• *Lost Cities: set collecting card game, 2 player, 30 minutes to play
• *Blokus: abstract strategy game, 1-4, best with 4 players, 20 minute game
• For Sale: auction card game, 3-6 players, 20 minute game
• Hey! That’s My Fish: abstract strategy, 2-4 player, best w/ three, 20 minutes
• Coloretto: set collection card game, 2-5, best w/ four players, 30 minutes
• Gulo Gulo: action/dexterity childrens game, 2-6, best w/ three players, 20 minutes

Older kids games (short):

• *Hive: abstract strategy, 2 player, 20 minutes
• Mr Jack: deduction game, 2 player, 30 minutes
• *Wings of War - Famous Aces: WW1 simulation card game, 2-4, best with four players, 30 minutes

Older kids games (longer, more involved):

• *Ticket to Ride: transportation hand management game, 2-5, best with 4 players, 45 minutes
• Pandemic: co-operative play environmental game, 2-4, best with 4 players, 45 minutes
• *Samurai: tile placement, area control game, 2-4, best with 2 players, 45 minutes
• Ingenious: abstract strategy, tile placement game, 1-4, best with 2 players, 45 minutes
• Through the Desert: abstract strategy, tile placement game, 2-5, best with 3 players, 45 minutes

He continues:

I tried to pick games that were easy to learn, short, and didn’t have a lot of pieces to lose. I’ve only played about half of these games and I starred those. You can lookup any of these games and get tons of info on them at boardgamegeek.com - That’s where I’m getting my info. As you can see I’m a board game geek. Maybe some of these suggestions will peak your own interest to play…I own “Samurai” and “Ticket to Ride” if you’re interested some time.

You bet I am. Maybe our at next staff meeting we’ll just play “Ticket to Ride!”

Bonus links
Just in case you haven’t seen them yet, these posts from Library Gamer discuss AASL standards and board games:

• AASL Standards Pt. I: Inquire, think critically and gain knowledge
• Board Games & AASL Standards Pt. II: Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge
• Board Games & AASL Standards Pt. III: Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society & Pursue personal and aesthetic growth
  

Click through to flickr for the full size 320×480 images.

If you happen to like many of the designs you can download a zip file with all of them: iphonewallpaper.zip. Enjoy!

I stumbled upon this great scene in the library today and it made me happy. There’s probably an opportunity here…

Tweets, er plurks, are displayed on a timeline. I like this. I also love the fact that the timeline progresses from right to left. It took me a second to get accustomed to it, but I love that it isn’t what I think of as the typical flow. It makes good sense considering we, at least in the US and many other places, read from left to right. There’s no need to scroll for new content.

[time from right to left - click for big]

 
Another feature that I really like is that Plurk gets better, or at least give more options, as you invest more time in it. Through a reputation system they call karma, plurk rewards users for making connections, starting conversations, updating profile information, inviting friends, etc… It also takes karma points away for spamming, being defriended and the like. Attaining a certain level of karma opens up options to let you customize your profile with different colors and designs.


[you can do more with karma points]

There’s something to this. I had no time or effort invested in Plurk but I instantly wanted to raise my karma. It reminded me of wanting to level up in Game Neverending. There’s no real reason to do it, but it’s still compelling.

Is there a place for this in our OPACs and websites? Would it be wrong to actually reserve some fun options (assuming our web presences have some fun options) to reward use?

I don’t know if I’ll end up using the site much, but for what its worth, you can friend me at http://www.plurk.com/user/walkingpaper. At the very least you’ll get some karma points!

I’ve also noticed people’s library use getting deeper as more time passes. Perhaps at first they come in to to simply check out a DVD or use a computer. After more visits during which the relationship is grown they’re more apt to talk about the book they’re checking out, or ask for some help.

This makes sense. Engaging strangers in smalltalk is one thing, but in a library setting there’s often little motivation to go beyond that. So besides being friendly and open, how can libraries and librarians build relationships with people?

Museum 2.0 has some advice that certainly pertains to in-house (and online) library services:

Creating a place for participation is not enough. To design spaces that encourage participation, you have to find ways to offer users mediating objects, rules, and events, and enough non-uniformity to allow intimate moments to slip through. And the hardest part? You have to do it in a way that feels accidental, surprising, and authentic. Otherwise you just become another guy in a bunny suit, people hurriedly passing by.

I’m immediately reminded of the Thinkering Spaces that Jenny Levine has been posting about. The bit about “mediating objects, rules and events” makes me think that libraries should offer more content (maybe specifically story) creation projects for people in the library.

See the rest of the post at Museum 2.0 for her list of “list of conditions for non-compulsory participatory encounters with strangers.”

The content in question is the very engaging (and slightly complex) Metal Gear series.

Is the Sisyphean mission of Solid Snake — to rid the world of a robotic nuclear tank called Metal Gear — a parable about the futility of war or about its necessity? A critique of America’s domination of the global stage? A metaphor for the struggle between determinism and free will?
…
Others object to the sheer density of the story, spanning seven games released over 20 real-world years, that players are asked to master [emphasis mine]

PS3 Fanboy adds:

Just as films have evolved into an acceptable means of telling a full, gratifying story, it won’t be long before video games achieve the same distinction.

Seattle
Nice landscaping, nice setting, nice sculpture, but the lasting impression wasn’t made by the art, it was made by a sign (actually, about 10 signs):

…
Chicago
Contrast this with Chicago’s Millennium Park. Public art and architecture that is entirely interactive.

A fountain that spits on you…

The post is about public art but the larger lesson is about letting people engage with spaces in ways that come naturally. 48pt Word document signs around the library impact (probably negatively) the way people engage with you and the space.

Funny, here’s how the Inter-Library Loan process works in my city (which is a major urban center):

1) Check the web site to see if a book is available. The listing for the book appears. The library has multiple copies. The copies are labeled:

MISSING — the book has not been returned.
DUE M/D/Y — the book is due on a particular date. These dates are usually in the past. After a couple of years, it will be marked MISSING.
CHECK SHELF — this also means that the book is MISSING.

2) Use the online form to enter your library card, the book, and the branch you want the book to go to.
3) Nothing happens. Wait several months.
4) You notice that a book is now listed as CHECK SHELF at a local branch. Having lost faith in the ILL process, you try to visit that branch, but it is closed for the weekend to a local festival.
5) You run to that branch on the Thursday it’s actually open past 6pm, push through the barren shelves, and notice that the last remaining books are Alvin Toffler’s Future Shock and a Sweet Valley High book from the 80s. The book is not on the shelf. The librarian shrugs and changes its status to MISSING.
6) You go home and order the book used off of Amazon for $.01 plus shipping.

I’m sure other people have library systems that actually work, but please don’t assume the poster is insane for wanting to use a commercial lender as an alternative. I’d be interested in a functional alternative to my local library myself.

I’ve been really interested lately in the fact that public libraries across the country (and world) each provide vastly different experiences. I can’t help but think that some consistency would do us good, but wow, how can that happen with the myriad factors that influence individual libraries?

After submitting our form people are taken to an otherwise not linked to page at which they can download the appropriate flyers and reading logs for the SRP. Nice.

Let me hasten to add that despite all of the requests, we haven’t received an overwhelming amount of online registrations. Maybe only 6 or 7% of the total. So, do these small numbers mean that our online registration system is a failure? Not a chance. Being able to serve this 6 or 7% was totally worth the minimal effort it took to create the form. Each time my phone beeped with an email and I saw that it was an online SRP registration I knew that the library had made someone’s life a little bit easier. I’m all for making library services easier to use, but making people’s lives easier is an even better goal. Many of these registrations were submitted well after the library had closed its physical doors:

This is a good example of how useful Web 2.0 applications can be. Fifteen minutes of making a web form and embedding a script into a webpage can expand the operating hours of a library service to all hours of the night.