Dewey probably never envisioned a time where we’d be cataloging video games that we play on our talking picture boxes, so why do we have to listen to him?  Cataloging video games is a new thing for libraries.  There’s a bit of confusion floating around on how to do it, so I say we capitalize on this chance to forge a new path ahead.

I have started circulating video game collections at two libraries and we did the call numbers two different ways.  Both have their pros and cons as you will be able to easily see.
At the Cape May County  we labeled the games with this format:
(GAME) (FORMAT) (FIRST THREE LETTERS OF TITLE)
For example, Super Mario Galaxy 2 for the Nintendo Wii would look like this:
GAME WII SUP

Here’s an example of this method:
At my current library, we label the games with simpler tag:
TEEN GAME

Our thinking was that the games were in the teen area and the titles were easily visible on the spine label already.
Here’s an example of this method:
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My point with this post is simple.  There are many different ways that you can do this and it all boils down to the simple question “what will work best for your patrons?”
Please share any video game cataloging examples you have in the comments below!