Gaming without Borders: Gaming Beyond Consoles and Screens

Elizabeth Lane Lawley. "Gaming without Borders: Gaming Beyond Consoles and Screens."
RIT Lab for Social Computing. Gaming is a serious skill that helps people grow. Libraries are behind the times. We must catch up.

Real life should be more like games (Second Life), not vice versa.
Game- a form of play with goals and structure, form of art, and more.
Libraries already have gaming- Summer Reading Programs, Learning 2.0, etc, each have steps with a goal and prizes at the end.
Experience is king, content is queen- about the unfettered immersive experience.
Space of trusted authority- trusted knowledge, we provide this.

Reverse Scavenger Hunt:
Break into teams, 10 minutes to bring back 11 items. Get list from judges. Tell judges how each item matches an item on the list.

Reclaiming Public Spaces that Have Fallen Into Disuse:
At the library, possibilities are endless. At the graveyard: tombstone hold 'em poker. Read headstones. Reinvigorate these place.

Cruel 2 B Kind:
Each team has a weapon and a weakness. Use positive weapon, like saying "you look great" to win others to your team. Hand out flowers, for example to kill people off.

Passively multiplayer online gaming:
Get experience for everything you do. Embedding playfulness into things people already do. Rewards and incentive.
--Is World of Warcraft the new Golf? You Play World of Warcraft? You're Hired--great article covers the sophistication of economic lessons within...ability to lead to conversations about ethics, middle men, powerful lessons about life, and more.

Libraries Must Respond:
--Build Core Collections to support games. World of Warcraft Atlas -- the game has 8.5 million players why do no libraries buy this? This is very sophisticated material on an enriching game. We are alienating potential patrons.
**hot tip: bookburro scours WorldCat and tells you the nearest library that has something on Amazon.
--Librarians & parents need to review games. Why is there no ALA best 100 games list?

Conclusion:
--Gaming makes kids more creative.
3D models in Second Life, full-on creation.
Fan fiction written about ClubPenguin
--We must evaluate what's out there and make brave new world of gaming real, safe, and less scary for all involved.