→ Online community for grandparents

→ Do Prostitutes Use the Social Web Better Than Corporate America?

→ In Some Schools, iPods Are Required Listening

→ Gaming the system
Highlights the cognitive process changing aspect of gaming.

In the process of playing a game, people are not afraid to learn (as opposed to use applications). The mindset of play invokes the optimal experience: play invokes flow and brings you into the flow. Game design defines a vocabulary of moves that are internalized by players and this type of “literacy” is going to allow people to utilize complex applications. Video-game players have internalized how simulation works, as a new scientific approach. They can reclaim this knowledge to other fields: players are able to find patterns for example.

For those of you in libraries that might need some research and numbers to start gaming events in your institution, here’s a paper titled “International survey on the Dance Dance Revolution game”. Print it and wave it all around, maybe in the general direction of any wet blanket in your building. The full text pdf is free.

An online questionnaire was used to study various factors related to Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) gaming. In total, 556 respondents from 22 countries of ages 12 to 50 filled in a questionnaire which examined the players’ gaming background, playing styles and skills, motivational and user experience factors, social issues, and physical effects of dance gaming, and taking part in dance-gaming related activities. The results show that playing DDR has a positive effect on the social life and physical health of players, as it improves endurance, muscle strength and sense of rhythm, and creates a setting where new friends can be found.[em mine]

How great is it to think of your library as a place where new friends can connect? hint: amazingly great!

[via]

Some have tried smoking rooms, had boy’s club rooms and games, and many have tried simply to make the rooms homelike and cheery, and all of their experience is valuable to us.- “The Library as Social Centre“, the opening address of the Minnesota Library Association, October 12, 1905, by Miss Gratia Alta Countryman

Read the whole thing because it is awesome, but here’s another pull-out:

The whole building at all times should be managed in the broadest spirit of hospitality; the atmosphere should be as gracious, kindly and sympathetic as one’s own home. Then do away with all unnecessary restrictions, take down all the bars, and try to put face to face our friends the books and our friends the people.

Gratia Alta Countryman was city librarian until 1935.

Wrapping up the Digital Natives conference there was a huge brainstorming session in which people worked together (just as if they were DNs themselves!) to come up with some great ideas to get started on. The presenters recapped what went on, and I chose to spend my time highlighting the theme of gaming in libraries. There were a number of edu-gaming links in my aggregator this morning that really came in handy. They mostly came out of the NECC I’m pretty sure, and in particular from Tim Lauer’s site. So, here are some games with great potential:

Dimenxian - Learn Math or Die Trying. Homework just got Hard

PeaceMaker - Be the Prime Minister of Israel or Palestinian President

Disaffected - Be a Kinko’s employee

Darfur is Dying - Prevent genocide

Food Force - Prevent hunger

Peter the Packet - Play the role of a packet of data on the web.

“You Play World of Warcraft? You’re Hired! “ is an interesting article from Wired. It details positive workplace skills learned from playing the MMORPG “World of Warcraft“

“I used to worry about not having what I needed to get a job done,” he says. “Now I think of it like a quest; by being willing to improvise, I can usually find the people and resources I need to accomplish the task.”

That’s pretty much what I do at the Reference desk, all the time, isn’t it? Reference librarians embark on a “quest” to find a piece (or some pieces) of information. Sometimes that involves a “massively multiplayer” aspect when we connect with other people to find that information. Or when we directly connect patrons with other people or organizations. Maybe that’s why I like doing Reference work so much…it’s like a game!

Some days, items in my aggregator come together and beg to be posted here.

#1 - The Video Game Librarian has been circulating games for about a year and has a report. His write up is valuable because it details the positive aspects and the negative (some broken items, some stolen items).

#2 - Libraries aren’t the only educational institution getting hip to DDR. See W.Va. Schools Get Game to Fight Obesity. As usual, the comments on Digg are pretty entertaining.

#3 - The most popular video game in Japan isn’t really a game at all, but rather a Brain Training tool for the Nintendo DS handheld. From Cabel’s Blog LOL:

And what does Brain Training do? Well, you hold your Nintendo DS like a book (with left and right screens), and you basically use the touchscreen to undergo a wide variety of simple, cleanly-designed, interesting exercises intended to make you smarter. Or, at least, keep your brain sharp and fresh and delicious. At the end of your “fun”, the game eventually calculates and reports your “mental age” — often with painful/comedic effect — and tracks your progress over the weeks and months of self-education. And that’s about it.

It sounds quite simple and very addictive. Another interesting fact about the “game” is that it is being played by men, women, boys, girl, and even grandmothers. The funniest thing about this is that, at the end of your session, it grades you. It calculates your mental age. Hmm, people are voluntarily participating in learning type activities to get better grades…oh, sorry, I can’t type any more, I have to print out a bibliography for some students. They’ll read it, right?

The Park Ridge Public Library here in Illinois got a nice write up in their local paper. “Library to try lending video games” states that only one board member voted “no” on the idea. It’s interesting that the board had to approve this idea.

“Kids throughout Park Ridge kept coming up to me and asking why we didn’t have video games for circulation,” she said.

After awhile, Odlevak began asking herself the same question. She began conducting research and said she discovered that libraries around the country are starting to add video games to their collections.

Odlevak will actually purchase the video game titles based on what young adults are requesting. Games that involve sports, popular movies, history and education will make up the bulk of the collection.

Odlevak said she has not conducted a formal survey to determine what young adults want, but she has received feedback by working with them on a daily basis.

“Just hanging out and listening to them has been my survey,” she said.[emphasis mine]

There are some funny and interesting comments on the digg thread discussing this, including info on libraries that are already doing this in Canada, and the UK.

…is this a good idea? And why couldn’t they do this when I was a kid?

Guess this person can’t use the library anymore as an adult?

This makes me wish I had a digg account so I could take part in this conversation about content in libraries.