Implications of Gaming in Libraries

I am no expert on video games. Although I own a Nintendo Wii, I primarily use it for Netflix streaming. So, as a novice in video game benefits, reading "The Case for Video Games in Libraries" by Suellen Adams was very informative. I agree with Adams that video games help users, particularly children, create alternate realities and exercise their story-telling skills. The multiple levels of intelligence involved with game playing are more complex than most non-gamers realize. Yet I wonder if the repetitive nature of games (going through the same levels and process over and over) causes a game to lose benefits over time. The influence on reading habits associated with video game story lines is also interesting, and it is completely plausible that someone interested in sci-fi or warfare video games would be drawn to books to further explore the topics.

Yet I am wondering about how video games fit into collection development. My library currently does not acquire video games, although other libraries in our network do. If a library chooses to include video games in their collection, how do they evaluate them for selection? And do the educational/developmental benefits of gaming apply to all games, or only specific types of games? Should that be part of the criteria for acquisition? Not all literature is considered educational, but the act of reading generally is, regardless of content. If all video games provide some level of problem solving and skill building, than that would make them beneficial to users. The complexity involved in some video games requires a greater level of user involvement (evaluation, decision making, planning, audio, visual, and physical interaction) than say, reading the newspaper.

Privacy for Libraries on Facebook

I have to say, the articles this week were extremely helpful in framing Facebook's privacy issues in the library context. Traditionally, I only think of how one's own personal Facebook account can reveal private details, but hadn't considered how the implications were applied to libraries as an institution. With so much responsibility over patron privacy, pushing a Facebook page were library users are susceptible to privacy leeks can get you into sticky territory. Also, I hadn't considered how adding something like a search box to your library page could be corrupt and harmful to users (Fernandez, 2009).
I like the idea that Fernandez suggests in "Privacy and Generation Y": "Those libraries already participating within a SNS can do something as simple as mixing in announcements about privacy news alongside their other posts to SNSs" (2010, p. 16). This accomplishes several things. It shows the library is engaged in ethical practices, and intends on trying to safeguard users through the decimation of important privacy information. It also serves as outreach by providing information that not only affects users while on the library page, but in their personal interactions on Facebook as well. Librarians are always engaging in information literacy; responsible sharing and privacy information can be integrated into the instructional courses, as Fernandez suggests in the same article. I think it would be a great idea to incorporate into IL courses, and I believe students would likely respond well to information that could help protect them.

Facebook , MySpace, and Class Divisions

Danah Boyd's article, "Viewing American Class Divisions Through Facebook and MySpace" brings up observations I may have made around the time the article was published (2007). I wonder how the class divisions have played out over the past several years, where Facebook has broadened it's reach to a wider age range and demographic. I question Boyd's comments about the migration to Facebook by "hegemonic" teens while the "subalterns" prefer MySpace, creating a good / bad dichotomy. MySpace, as Boyd mentions is the Las Vegas style networking site, but I think it is/was actually preferred by the "subaltern" teens because it allows more creativity and personalization than Facebook ever has. Most of the people I knew that used MySpace liked it because they could personalize the site with their own artwork or their band's logo. I believe that because Facebook started out as an exclusively college site, that is what set the tone for class division and I think Boyd should have explored that fact more. People who did not have an .edu email at Facebook's introduction, those who did not attend a college or university, were immediately excluded and turned-off by the site. Eventually as Facebook became more accessible, people warmed, and I think a similar examination of the class divisions on social networking sites would produce different results today. According to OCLC's Perceptions of Libraries, 2010   MySpace has nearly flat-lined over the past several years, where Facebook took a sharp turn upward in 2008.