Week 11: Gaming & Virtual worlds

I was a bit unsure of what I would be learning about this week. I don't have much experience with gaming and am mostly in the dark in general when it comes to gaming and virtual worlds.

I was interested in reading about how gaming and libraries would intersect. This first seemed like an outlandish idea, but after reading the articles by Doshi and Oblinger, I now have a better sense of what gaming could potentially do for library instruction.

I know that I've brought up the issue of libraries needing to stay relevant and engaged with their audience a number of weeks already, but this is definitely an area where libraries can connect with younger audiences. Both Doshi and Oblinger bring up a number of things to consider for libraries to implement gaming. The bottom line is that it can be done and if this is a way to "engage students in an environment that is relevant to their world view" (Doshi, ¶6) then we should!

Case Study: FindIt

This was my first introduction to gaming and library instruction, so I had no idea what the sort of game would consist of. Words and phrases flashed before me and I had to decide whether it belonged to the WEB or LIBRARY. I liked the fast-paced nature to it and how some of the phrases made me pause and reflect. While reflecting on a couple phrases, I noticed that the screen changed quickly, so I didn't even have a chance to answer my question and it didn't wait for me.

I also looked at Module 3.  I quickly browsed through the description and when I got to the game, I realized that I hadn't read the instructions well enough to play the game. I was too impatient with reading instructions to get to the good part!

FindIt is a really good starting point for information literacy and library instruction. I would suggest a few minor tweaks, but this is a great example of gaming in libraries.