Library Blogs

Last week, we managed to add five display cases to the (previously empty-looking) wall just outside the archive room, which are large enough to hold some of the larger video game posters in our collection. They will also give us the chance to showcase some of the neat video game ephemera that we don't often get to show off, including a t-shirt for Dragon's Lair, signed by its creators, Don Bluth and Gary Goldman.(Thanks to Britain for donating the shirt, and to Shannon for coming up with the great blurb.)

Here's our list of the most popular games played in the CVGA over the course of the past month. FIFA dominates the board, with Rayman making a strong appearance and Dominion becoming ever more popular.

Since February 2008, the University Library has offered a service called "MTagger" as a way to allow site visitors to save resources for future use. Usage patterns over the four years that MTagger was part of our web site show a clear preference for "favoriting" items rather than tagging them. In fall 2011, the library launched "Search Tools Favorites," a way for authenticated library web site users to save databases and online journals.

We recently got a donation that included an Amiga 3000 computer, as well as an Amiga 500. After some love and care from our fearless restorer of old games and equipment, Doug, they are now in working order. Here are a few titles that are now available to play on the Amigas.

To mark the 25th anniversary of the Japanese release of the first Final Fantasy game, we have a display commemorating some of the popular cast and themes that have presented themselves throughout the series.

The FAQ for the CVGA has been updated on our libguide, and includes our policies regarding the game soundtracks that we have available for use within the archive. We will also list it here.

The results are in for this year's Smash tournament. We had over 30 people total joining in on the fun, cheering on the 17 participants. Here is the list of the top four winners, winning gift cards to Amazon.

Which is to say that the much-requested Battlefield 3 is now available in the archive.I don't know if the game has a dancing Pat Benatar, but if it did that would be kind of awesome...

Here is our list of games played most often in the archive for the month of February.

At the University of Michigan library, we are working on a tool to integrate four separate tools (one for each of these kinds of resource: databases, online journals, library catalog records, and article citations). But what should we call such a tool, one that is designed to allow site visitors to save resources into their account for later access?