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Digital Distribution for Libraries
7This post was originally going to be a review of the Rock Band Network/Rock Band Music Store for Xbox 360. Since the start of 8bitlibrary.com, JustinLibrarian and I have sweated over the answer to this question: how can libraries develop a successful video game collection when so many new games are reliant on DLC (which Nintendo, Sony, AND Microsoft have all set up as closed distribution systems completely controlled by them). How can a library, which has a goal of circulating media, circulate content so closed and controlled that it is impossible to use by anyone except the person who purchased it?
File this under “We don’t have all the answers.”
And, of course, librarians across the country are wrestling with this same question, albeit for other forms of media. How can we distribute digital music when iTunes (& to a lesser extent, Amazon and the like) have already taken away our ability to do that? While there are some very expensive (and, in my opinion, very clunky and not-iTunes-like) vendor-controlled options such as Overdrive, Naxos Music, & Freegal, this is just a “patch” that we have while we, as a library community, decide to either get serious about digital distribution or continue to tread water.
A current trending topic of concern in libraries is eBook distribution. How can we loan an eBook on an eBook reader if that content is closed and controlled by a large corporation?
Along that “we don’t have all the answers” line, I decided to go to an expert on the topic, Mr. Libraryman Michael Porter. He has wrestled with the larger distribution issue, just as we are on the smaller (albiet still gigantic) issue of game content distribution. So I asked him,
- How do you feel libraries will be distributing digital media in 2015?
He gave this well-reasoned response:
I imagine two most likely scenarios with little gray in between the potential outcomes. For both, the lynchpin is either succeeding or failing to develop a new electronic content access and distribution infrastructure via libraries. If we can develop that new infrastructure and make it a truly effective, competitive, well used and well liked place for people to get what they want, when they want it, in the format they want it *through the library*, then our future will be more secure and on-target than ever before. If we fail to do this though, libraries will fade in use, funding and relevance. This would eventually lead to the demise of the library as the hub of content access and community engagement and turn many of those functions over to for profit business and institutions that have mission statement tied to profit rather than the health and wisdom of the community and country they serve.
This is a call to action for all of us. We shouldn’t just wait for a vendor to develop a platform for us. We shouldn’t let something as simple as a library’s ability to loan a book be taken away by corporations in the digital age. We need to raise this issue. If we want libraries to continue to exist, we need to let go of our comfort and get on the front lines of this issue.
So there is no confusion, I am not anti-corporation, per se. Corporations can be our partners in it the future. And, so my last words will be positive, we can do it.
Thanks go out to Michael Porter from us at 8bitlibrary.com. Check out his Library 101 project, if you haven’t yet.
Zombies @ your library
62 years ago
In case you haven’t noticed, zombies are so hot right now. In movies and books, in flash mobs and on college campuses, even in social networking, they’re everywhere — shouldn’t they be @ your library, too? Gaming is a great way to bring them there!
Zombies have an incredibly rich history in video games, reaching all the way back to Zombie Zombie on the ZX Spectrum in 1984. Some of today’s hottest titles are zombie related, like Left 4 Dead and Left 4 Dead 2, the Resident Evil series, the House of the Dead series, Dead Rising and its sequel, Stubbs the Zombie in Rebel Without a Pulse – Nazi zombies even make an appearance in Call of Duty: World at War. Zombies show up in other types of games as well – they appear in Magic: The Gathering, D&D, and even in board games.
As I’ve discussed before, video games are a great Reader’s Advisory tool – why not use a zombie gaming night to introduce patrons to other zombie-themed materials they might enjoy? Maybe someone who’s never picked up a graphic novel could be enticed by a copy of The Walking Dead. A DVD display could spotlight the original Romero archetypes, feature some campy classics and introduce a few exciting new takes on the genre. Zombies are running rampant in fiction these days – I’m sure you already have a few copies of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies on hand – so you could assemble a veritable smorgasbord of undead delights (my favorites are those by Max Brooks, Z.A. Recht and Jonathan Maberry). Zombie fiction is an excellent gateway to the larger world of horror writing, so you might want to add a few non-zombie titles as well to see if you can pique some interest.
The undead are everywhere these days — don’t miss the opportunity to bring them into the library as well!
Gaming and Advocacy
02 years ago
Advocacy is a word thrown around so often in libraries that we can forget what it means. Advocacy, to me, means advocating for meaningful library services and public support of libraries.
Gaming can be an effective tool for libraries to use in their advocacy efforts. Gaming is a literary endeavor. Gaming connects people. Gaming connects different media collections together. Gaming can be used to teach. Gaming can be used for fun. But what is really important is that everyone is gaming. In that sense, libraries can reach some of the widest audiences of users by including games both in their collections and program offerings.
And when the time comes for libraries to need support from public (in times of budget cuts, etc.), libraries with users who really vocally love the place will have strong advocates. When we are building our core of users who will support us, can libraries afford not to be incorporating game programs & collections?
Reinstate #followalibrarian for #followfriday!
4UPDATE: Shoutout to 8bitlibrary.com‘s own @wawoodworth for being one of the founders of the whole #followalibrarian thing!
For those of us librarians on twitter, the people we follow are playing an important role in our professional and personal development. However, if you are new to twitter or you haven’t followed anyone in awhile, you may feel your tweets have leveled off in quality. I have a solution that isn’t “just give up on tweeting”.
Reinstate #followalibrarian for #followfriday!
Back in the day on twitter, librarians used the #followalibrarian hashtag to supplement the #ff or #followfriday hashtags. This helped librarians find each other. Somewhere along the line, #followalibrarian disappeared. It’s time to bring it back.
We here at 8bitlibrary.com are especially counting on you librarians with 1000+ followers to reinstate #followalibrarian. RT this article so we can breathe a new life in librarianship on twitter.
Even if you don’t have lots of followers, or any followers at all, you can still help. Here’s some ideas for you all!:
- School Librarians, #ff educational tweeps that librarians may not have have had contact with before.
- Children’s Librarians, who are your favorite musicians, authors, artists, tv personalities, bloggers, or lap-sitters?
- Library Directors, turn us on to great library twitter accounts that we can all use as examples for twitter marketing techniques.
- Academic Librarians, who can you #ff that will help the rest of us influence positive change on our campuses?
- Gamers, #ff some gaming tweeters who will help librarians build game collections.
- Non-librarians, who can you #ff that would help expand our librarian minds?
- Followers of @JustinLibrarian, RT this post, kthnx!
- All Twitter Librarians, follow the #ff’s from your tweeps. They probably won’t steer you wrong, and expanding who you follow beyond your PLN to related fields will only serve to make you a more well-rounded librarian.
- Librarians not yet on Twitter, join now and get in on the #followalibrarian renaissance.
Here at 8bitlibrary.com, we are about gaming in schools & libraries. But on a bigger scale, this website is about fitting librarianship into the framework of other fields. In this case, the field is gaming. You might be someone who can fit librarianship into a non-library box, and following related fields on twitter will help give you new ideas on how to do that.
Librarians have much to offer other fields, especially info, education, and social media related ones! By expanding who you follow, you are expanding our whole profession’s influence and importance.
Also, don’t forget to follow the whole 8bitlibrary.com crew: @8bitlibrary, @JustinLibrarian, @LibraryGuy, @librarymafia, @RedheadFangirl, @wawoodworth, & @LibrarianJP (ME!). Follow 8bitlibrary.com’s RSS feed and post your @ twitter name in the comment box here so others can follow you, too.
Broadening the Experience: Games as Readers’ Advisory
72 years ago
I was inspired by Liz Danforth’s article and Justin’s response — how can we as librarians broaden the experience of gaming for our patrons, and empower them to connect their passion for games with other things that might interest them? Liz had some great suggestions (I’m particularly intrigued by World of Warcraft and Philosophy), one of which was to pull books from the shelves to put out during gaming events. This idea, coupled with the “Like this? Try this” concept that Amazon and Netflix have used to great success with their recommendations, led me here:
Bioshock is one of my favorite games, so I thought I’d use it as a jumping-off point. What books would I suggest for someone who enjoyed the game? Well, Atlas Shrugged is a natural choice, as it was one of the primary inspirations behind the game. But Chuck Palahniuk‘s books also might be of interest — they’re edgy and violent, and have some amazing and unexpected twists, so it’s the narrative structure that’s the tie-in here. Fight Club and Choke are both excellent, with great movie adaptations.
Speaking of movies, what about suggestions for them? Visually, Bioshock gives us a lot to work with — Metropolis is a classic that also inspired the makers of the game, and City of Lost Children has some of the same thematic elements, as well as a dark, fantastic steampunk setting where Big Daddies would fit right in.
But “broadening the experience” doesn’t mean we have to leave out other games — as Craig’s last post illustrates, games are evolving past button-mashing to become rich, immersive story experiences. Craig gives some great suggestions of other story-rich games that Bioshock fans might enjoy. In terms of gameplay, Dead Space covers a lot of similar ground, and has the same dark, ominous feel that Bioshock cultivates so well. An older but extremely well-received game that combines the dystopian theme with role-play and first-person shooter elements is Deus Ex (and its sequel, Deus Ex: Invisible War).
Any popular game could be a starting point for a display or recommendation list. Try it — what would you recommend for someone who loves Modern Warfare 2, Mass Effect or Assassin’s Creed?
New Jersey Library Association 2010 Conference
02 years ago
The New Jersey Library Association 2010 Conference registration is open!
I will be presenting (along with Somerset County Librarian and Graphic Novel enthusiast Chris Murray) program Using Graphic Novels and Video Games to Market Library Services and will be moderating NJ State Library Technologist Bob Keith’s Google Wave and Library Service program.
8bitlibrarian Justin will be presenting program Mobility and Brevity: Twitter and Evolving Libraries along with 8bitlibrary.com‘s good friend John LeMasney.