Posts tagged with library in Blog Eaten by a Grue

We are excited to announce that we're hiring again for the CVGA! We're looking for 1-2 student workers to start within the next month. Here's the job description: Work at the Computer & Video Game Archive (CVGA) desk to circulate games, answer questions, and enforce archive policies. Test donated games and equipment, help install software/hardware, help restore older game systems and equipment, etc. Assist in running class sessions in the CVGA. Contribute to the archive blog.

We'd like to share the details about a video game-related talk happening in the library next week: This presentation is an exploration of the intersections of video game building, meaningful learning, Indigenous and Western cultures through relation-oriented ontologies - rather than aspect- or object- oriented ones. From the tech that is used to the land and waters the event is hosted on - these connections matter, weaving networks of relations across digital and physical heterotopic borders.

Guest author Amanda Cote joins us again to share her thoughts on a popular topic at the recent ALA Conference: Video Games in Library Collections.

American Libraries Magazine recently published an article featuring the Video Game Collection at the Library of Congress. According to the article, the collection preserves every game turned in for copyright registration, which works out to be about 10% of the games published each year. They collect the games themselves, along with promotional materials and guides associated with each game.

Phil Minchin of Port Phillip Library in Australia shares his views on why games are an overlooked but important addition to libraries via a blog post on the Library Journal blog. In it, he points out a number of reasons why games should be in the collection, including that they are important elements of culture, that they foster community, and that they are art - the poetry of system.

Old Dominion University has taken the time to painstakingly recreate their library in the popular indie game Minecraft, and is currently seeking out ideas for connecting with current and potential users who play the game. According to their website, they're planning a zombie invasion on their virtual library to celebrate Halloween, and who knows what might invade them next.

Our library table display for March is books about video games: The books were selected by the ULAs (Ben, Rebecca & Stephanie) and me; Stephanie put together the presentation. Come by the 2nd floor to check it out, and there are many more books in the stacks!

Books? Yeah, we've got them too...Recently we've started to add novels, comics and art books related to video games to the collection. Like Warcraft and Halo novels, The Art of... books, and the like. These books will be in the regular AAEL books collection (i.e. not kept down in the archive room) so you can check them out and read them like any other book in the library.

The game Bibliobouts, created by SI students from the University of Michigan, is getting more press as they prepare to be released for classroom use for the Winter 2011 and Fall 2011 semesters. Bibliobouts is "an online social activity that teaches players the skills they need to research academic papers," and can be used across disciplines.Read more about it here, or check out the demo here by entering demo@bibliobouts.org as the email address and "demo" as the password.

We've published a new LibGuide for Video Game Studies. It covers "the academic analysis of various aspects of computer, console, arcade, and Internet games," from both social science and humanities perspectives. This guide was created by Ben Nanamaker, one of our University Library Associates here at the AAEL.