Thursday, April 12, 2007

ACRL Roundup

I realize this post is about two weeks overdue, but I'll chalk that up to allowing myself plenty of time to roll things around in my head.
I saw and heard about some incredible gaming projects going on in academic libraries across the country. The University of Cincinnati is working on a game that we saw some screenshots from, and it looks amazing. I'm excited to keep up with its creation. I also heard a little about a game at James Madison that sounds awesome.
Of course, presenting our poster session with Scott was a great, overwhelming, exhausting experience. I think we ended up talking with and giving handouts to about 400 people. Since ACRL, we've heard from enthusiastic librarians all over the country who are eager to adapt our game for their own libraries. Hearing from colleagues really makes the whole process worthwhile.
On a (brief) philosophical note, I realized that the thing I like about gaming in libraries is that it is accessible to everyone. Librarians are creating and have created games that range in complexity from our two-person six month project to multi-year, team-built projects. There's room for anyone in gaming.