Jeffrey Trzeciak has written an interesting post at Designing Better Libraries about video games and the neurobiology:
What does this have to do with designing better libraries? Well, quite a bit! All educators – including librarians – need to develop an understanding that technology has had a profound impact on how we act AND how we think. We need to develop systems that reflect how learners learn today. Libraries and library systems have traditionally taken a very linear and very text-based approach to accessing resources. This approach, it turns out, may actually be detrimental to the educational process.
The first rule of education is engagement. Games are by their very nature engaging. As a result, our users are turning up in these environments more and more often. They are there and we need to be there as well. So, my post is a question really….what is the library community doing about getting into gaming in significant ways? Who are the leaders in this area and what are they doing to make library resources and services more accessible through game environments?
Now putting video games in public libraries isn’t anything new, but I still get excited about seeing video games used that way, in part because of my casual gamer life and in part because I like using video games to support library outreach.
I do a lot of work with teens, and a coworker and I are trying to move things in a technological direction. We have a Guitar Hero II event planned in May (which we really hope will go over well). We’re also bouncing around ideas about emulating Brian Matthews’ idea about NCAA Football and actual football players (although we’re working on something a little different, possibly with the Georgia Force and EA’s Arena Football: Road to Glory).
On a related note, check out this editorial by young adult author Lauren Mechling (”Come for the XBox, stay for the books“) about the changing face of teen services in libraries.
What are your thoughts on using video games to serve our patrons better?
