ALA 2009 Part II (Gaming)

...Day 1 Continued...

At 10:30, I chose to attend a session on Gaming, with the official title being Gaming: What Does it Have To Do With Books?. This session showcased 4+ speakers that spoke on gaming in each of their libraries. Their stories are as follows:

• Sarah Corey (sp) New York Public Library | Her take on Gaming..."games make learning fun!" She also gave many positive outlooks for gaming in the library: "games offer a range of solutions just like in Real Life," "games include and encourage experimentation and risk-taking," "games break down language barriers." Sarah also focused on the fact that teens are the gaming experts which creates community involvement, along with a teen-run programming atmosphere. This teen-run programming has positive peer influence! Gaming also generates alternative literacy where teens/gamers are expressing themselves in new ways. All of us need to realize that k-12 children of today are growing up with this "new" technology, therefore these children think in a totally different way than we do. This "new" technology is forcing libraries to adapt to the culture. A programming idea would be to bring in gaming techs to teach teens about careers in gaming.
• Florence, CO | Unfortunately, I didn't get the name of this speaker, but the library is in Florence, Colorado. This public library has tried to set up a "community center" with the idea that if you don't OFFER, they WON'T come! Sometimes libraries have the opposite thinking by saying they WON'T come, so why bother OFFERING? This is most definitely wrong thinking! This Colorado library held its first gaming tournament with borrowed game systems and its gaming motto has been that games offer a different kind of world, just as books offer a magical world.
• Western NY School Library System | Again, another no name for this presentation, but lots of great information on gaming in the classroom. This school system is trying to bridge the gap between games and libraries and is realizing the fact that the foundation has been present all along! Their take is as follows: games connect learning and play increases learning, perseverance and multiple view points are new education standards that can be taught through games (ex: 1960 President Election Game = authentic learning through authentic gaming).
  
• Academic Library Setting | Book: What Video Games Have To Teach Us About Learning and Literacy by James Paul Gee = games are changing the way patrons want service. Book: Gaming in Academic Libraries by Amy Harris and Scott Rice. Gaming Events in a college setting provide what students actually want to be doing! Gaming events show how coursework and curriculum can be fun with an end result being a gaming career.

Key points to starting a gaming program at your library:

• Have a GOAL! Start with your library mission and consider why you want to start gaming (to draw people in that normally wouldn't enter, extend existing services, become a community hub, supporting curriculum, marketing, etc...)
• Choose games that will meet your goals and then remember to do a thorough assessment.

ALA provides a toolkit for gaming in libraries found HERE.

What about the violence?
It's important to remember that libraries already have materials that would/could be considered violent (books, movies, etc...). The library should already have a collection development policy in place which covers this issue. Games aren't ALL about violence (violence vs. action).

More gaming information can be found HERE
Gaming podcast can be found HERE

ALA 2009 Part I

I have been debating on whether or not to blog my first ALA conference or not...partly because I feel I'm not a great writer and partly because I felt I probably couldn't do the conference justice. Then, I started thinking that I wanted to remember the sessions that I attended, and I wanted to always have documentation of my first ALA experience. I'm not sure if anyone will ever read this, but the following is part one of a series of blog entries detailing events from July 11-14 of 2009.

I attended the ALA conference with two other graduate student classmates of mine: Malissa and Patricia...both fabulous people. Our itinerary (complements of moi) put us in Chicago on the evening of July 10th. Once checking into our hotel (the Hyatt of Lombard, IL and a story in and of itself), we ventured to the Museum of Science and Industry to check out the Harry Potter exhibition. While I was excited about this exhibit, I was a tad disappointed with the overall concept. In my mind I was thinking more set props and the like, but it turned out to be more clothing and wardrobe. The signs seen at each "station" were a little redundant as well if you are one that has read the books and seen the movies. It was still neat, just not what I was expecting.

Day two had us up at 5am in order to beat traffic (even though it was a Saturday) and make it to our 8am sessions on time. We were geared up and ready to learn (although later in the week, the exhibits took a strong hold of us and we just couldn't stop!) with 3 sessions on the books. We each split up to venture to our respective rooms (they being more YA oriented and me being more technology driven).

Enter...8am Digital Libraries Showcase
Emily Gore of Clemson University: Clemson, SC spoke about what her university has done to create a digital library work-space. The following was part of her presentation:

• Scanning Center | One must keep in mind the budget of the department, as well as the staffing and expertise of those that will be working with the equipment. Consider what items the department will be scanning in order to purchase the right equipment. Ask the question about outsourcing...how much outsourcing does the department want to be involved with?
• Outsourcing Debate | It's important to only work with reputable vendors. Also, keep in mind that when outsourcing, things such as weather have a say in when and how materials move.
  
• Inhouse Debate | The disadvantage of doing EVERYTHING inhouse is the larger investment of time and money. It is also difficult to set prices per scan for statistical purposes. 
• Clemson University | They had 100K to work with with one full-time librarian and part-time students helping with the digitization process. A full-time scanning technician is also on staff and there has been re purposing of internal staff as well. Clemson also had to rethink the equipment being purchased based on their space (ceiling height, windows, etc...).
• Clemson University Workstations | They are equipped with both Mac and PC platforms with CONTENTdm (OCLC) being their cms. Each workstation is provided with dual side-by-side monitors that enable better comparisons when entering metadata information. Task lighting is also in place to give true coloring to the items.
• Clemson University File Storage | Clemson uses RAID as their storage back-up system, along with LOCKSS (for more digital preservation tools) and MetaArchive for a community-based approach to digital preservation.
• Clemson University's Scanner Equipment | The favorite scanner for Clemson is the Epson Expression 10000XL. This bad boy has all the bells and whistles and batch scanning capabilities that make for a successful scanning center in any University setting. Clemson also uses the Kodak Creo and iQ3 scanners but unfortunately they have experienced software upgrade troubleshooting problems.
  

Overall, I was intrigued by the presentation and wanted to see some scanning in action.

I decided to leave early and head next door to the Technology in the Developing World session. The following are notes from this discussion:

• http://laptop.org/en/ | One Laptop Per Child | Children in remote locations now have the opportunity to have ownership of their laptops. There are currently 1 million laptops aroudn the world, but the future of this program is varying from country to country.
  
• www.inveneo.org | "connecting those who need it most." Partners to bring wireless capabilities to places such as Rowanda, in order to create Refugee Education Centers. 
• www.research4life.org | Another partner in the OLPC project.

The idea of this project is for children to have technology/internet access, both at school and at home in order to spread literacy to family members. Each individual country organizes training and partners with deployment groups. Unfortunately, there are some instances where a top-down approach is had, where total reliance must be on the government of the country. Peru is currently the most government run project.
The flickr group for OLPC is:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/onelaptop/pool/
 
More to come from the rest of Day 1...

Geocaching @ Your Library

WHEN:   July 2009
WHERE: Frankton Community Library

I ♥ Audiobooks!

Denise Johnson's article Audiobooks: Ear-resistible!

• Multitasking with audiobooks (as well as podcasts)

I really think multitasking has become such a part of our culture today that many people, me included, cannot function to get things done unless they multitask. When doing any kind of work on the computer, I either have iTunes open with a podcast going, or I'm catching up on a tv episode online that I may have missed. When doing that, I have 2 windows open side by side and can see my video and still type away. With audiobooks, it's very much the same. I must say though, if I'm really working on something important, audiobooks aren't the way to go for me because I want to pay too much attention to the story as opposed to the task at hand that I am trying to finish. Audiobooks are GREAT though for when you are out and about at the grocery, in a line, at a coffee shop, or while you are doing housework at home. It's definitely a fun way to get some not-too-pertinent things accomplished.

• That's cheating

Some bibliophiles and bookworms out there are under the assumption that listening to audiobooks isn't really "reading" and that audiobooks are a form of "cheating." I must disagree! What exactly is the definition of reading? Is it comprehension? Does one have to "read" the words on a page in order to be in the act of reading? Obviously there will be different opinions, but let's look at a couple of sinarios:
-Take the busy on-the-go business man/woman who doesn't even have time to eat, much less read a book. This business man/woman may have a lengthy commute to work ... via car, bus, train, etc ... What if said person needs to get just a little more work done on this commute, but would still like to read a book every now and then? Enter the audiobook! It's multitasking and entertainment at its fullest!
-Now we have a housewife with small children at home who require her undivided attention. Said housewife would love to relax every now and then with some coffee and a good book ... and maybe have a few minutes all to herself (because we all know how books can take us miles and miles away!). With everything she must accomplish in a day, there's no time for any leisure. Enter the audiobook! She is able to put the kids down to play while she works in the kitchen or folding laundry, or whatever the task may be, and low and behold...she pops an audiobook in the cd player and voila! She has transformed her day-to-day tasks to make them more bearable (isn't housework SO redundant!). Besides, being read to is a treat in and of itself.
-Finally, what about that student, be it elementary, jr. high, or high school student, who may need an added push to help them get more into reading. What if reading is hard for them? Enter the audiobook! Audiobooks house an atmosphere of creativity and pull the "reader" in for more. Because audiobooks are spoken, the speakers' inflection and character differentiation is great to help students relate to the book. This could be just the ticket to instilling a love for "reading!"

• Audiobooks as educational tools

Some audiobooks include insight into the lives of the author and provide foundational material for how the book was created. This can be huge in terms of educational value. I can also see using this part of an audiobook in library programming. Not every library will have funding to bring in an author, but programming around the audio material could provide the same effect.

Audio File Magazine: Audiobooks or Aural Art?

This particular article looks to the future of audiobooks. Will we see an increase or a decrease in the demand for audiobooks? Personally, I think we are looking to expect an increase, especially with today's downloadable options (think audible.com). The author includes a hypothesis of seeing audiobooks turn to original material, as opposed to the redundant re-telling of a book in print. This is an interesting concept and one that could work. With podcasting being such a hot topic, I could see podcasts being turned into a form of "audiobook." Already some podcasts are taking the form and structure of the old radio shows where sound effects were handmade and parts of the show were dedicated to story-telling. It really makes one think of the posibilities and creativity to be had.

So, are audiobooks truly reading? You decide!

The following taken from dictionary.com

read⋅ing

1.	the action or practice of a person who reads.

2.	Speech. the oral interpretation of written language.

It's Snowing...in my Email!

I realize this isn't fully library related, but it is technology related!

Google recently released a new themed e-mail setting for G-mail, with many themes to choose from. I am currently using the  tree setting and low-and-behold...it's snowing! I didn't even realize it until I confirmed the email setting with a look outside. Google was right!

This snow will make for a very slick drive for classes in the morning...but I'm excited to see if maybe I can get some pretty snow pictures out of the deal.

Happy Winter! (coming from a gal who hates cold weather!)

Community Puzzle

photo courtesy of flickr's public photo pool

I recently read the book Dewey: The Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World. It was one of those heart-warming, feel-good books that just make you smile. I instantly wanted a cat for my library...or a puppy of my own that I could name Dewey. Neither has happened!

So what does the book have to do with the puzzle?

The small library in Iowa had a chapter fully devoted to the community puzzle. Dewey would often be found in the puzzle box, prohibiting patrons from working on the puzzle...but they didn't mind...it meant petting time for Dewey!
After reading that chapter, I got the hair-brained idea that I wanted to implement a community puzzle for MY library. I am in a very teeny-tiny library where little old ladies like to congregate and talk about their lasted craft project, or recipe. What better way to talk...then over a puzzle? I had the pleasure of starting the puzzle...and I'm hoping it's a big hit for the winter months to come!
 

School Frustrations

How can a person conduct a 2 hour and 45 minutes class...a Reference class which is beneficial to every librarian...talking about nothing at all? Today we have discussed political issues which turned into a major catastrophe, blacks in general because the professor is African American, and more blah blah blah. This is my frustration with paying for a class and then spending time to drive a full hour and 20 minutes to be here for class...and then feeling like nothing was accomplished. I only had my time wasted.

Don't get me wrong, I am loving school...and loving the fact that I am getting closer to the finish line, but frustrations are still there. I am still paying good money for an education, and unfortunately I feel that my money and time is being taken advantage of. *sigh

On the flip side, I am even more convinced that I have done the right thing in taking 3 online classes next semester. I feel like no time will be wasted that way ... because the information is there for you to read on your own time and you can get right to the assignment. We'll see if I'm correct!