GAMERT (Gaming) Round Table

 View Only
last person joined: yesterday 

The mission of the Games and Gaming Round Table is to provide the following:
  • A forum for the exchange of ideas and concerns surrounding games in libraries;
  • Resources to the library community to support the building and maintaining of library game collections;
  • A force for initiating and supporting game programming in libraries;
  • Create an awareness of, and need for, the support of the value of gaming and play in libraries, schools, and related learning communities.
  • Create an awareness of the value of games and gaming in library outreach and community engagement plans.
  • A professional and social forum for networking among librarians and non-librarians interested in games and gaming.

  • 1.  PC Games in the library

    Posted Jan 06, 2015 08:44 AM

    Hi,


    Are any of you successfully using an online portal to play PC games? Do you have a Steam account? Do you have firewall/access issues? 


    I am on a university campus and access to the internet for gaming is restrictive. We also have to send every EULA through legal. I would like to know if anyone else on a campus is able to offer access to PC games through an online portal.


    We are unable to access online console content as well. :( 


    Thanks,
    Diane Robson
    University of North Texas



  • 2.  RE: PC Games in the library

    Posted Jan 08, 2015 12:07 PM

    Check this out!

    https://archive.org/details/softwarelibrary_msdos_games/v2



  • 3.  RE: PC Games in the library

    Posted Jan 08, 2015 12:19 PM

    We have this and the console living room as resources for our patrons. Lots of great games on both.

    --diane

     

     



  • 4.  RE: PC Games in the library

    Posted Jan 08, 2015 01:32 PM

    Hi Diane,

    Have you heard of the new [academicgames] listserv that NCSU just began in December?  http://lists.ncsu.edu/cgi-bin/mj_wwwusr?user=&passw=&func=info&list=academicgames

    It is geared towards university libraries that can address your specific questions.  We have not gone down the PC games path yet or even console games with their respective subscriptions (e.g., Xbox Live) at the UCLA Library.  They were grateful that I agreed to hold off on that despite how limiting that really is.  They are currently testing 3-5 games we ordered and testing for any licensing issues.  

    On the side, I have received a lot of questions and concerns about the preservation of online games if we choose to go with that format, especially if we wish to have a "permanent" collection of games so I threw the question into the listserv and have been receiving lots of feedback, contacts, and readings to look into.

    If you haven't joined this list yet, I think it will definitely be worth it!



  • 5.  RE: PC Games in the library

    Posted Jan 08, 2015 02:04 PM

    Yes. I am on that listserv and have been reading the posts. They have brought a different perspective as archivists of games and game play. Our collection is not an archival collection. We are not actively preserving research games or examples of online play. It is interesting to read and who knows maybe one day a big ol' pot of gold will fall into my lap, but right now our collection is a general collection for classroom and student use.

    We hope to stay ahead of technology and format changes if we can afford to. The Internet Archive has been helpful even though they are emulated and browser based. It still gives an good overview and there are no access issues!!! Yay!

    Diane