MERLIN.
It seems as though no one has posted anything in the MERLIN forums in several weeks. Guess it's a slow month for the cutting edge that is library public service in Maryland.
There seems to be an awful lot of talk about "integrating" internet and multi-user gaming into library service for some odd reason. Am I the only one who finds the idea of a bunch of noisy children on video terminals blowing up CGI villains completely distasteful? I mean, sure, the kids will be happy--but should we really alter the fundamental structure of the public space at the library just to accomodate this generation's Attention Deficit Disorder? In the rush to "serve the community", our library managers are actually catering to a particular demographic (teens who don't read but like to play video games) at the expense of everyone else.
Has everyone gone insane? I mean, as a grad student, I'm someone who uses the library to actually read books, to actually do research (I know, I'm such a square); if I had to look up stuff to the sounds of shouting pre-teens and squealing kids, I might just go postal. The day that libraries become arcades is the day I hand in my two weeks.
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I think that libraries are working ot find their place in a world that at some times seems to be leaving the printed word behind. We launch out in an assortment of directions and see which ones are the best fits for us. A library-future version of the "Noiseless Patient Spider" by Whitman. I recently read a news story that reported that 1 in 4 American adults reported that they read no books last year. Gaming has, at least, been shown to support literacy development. Gamers often have to read a lot of text in order to blow up those aliens!
NPR ran a segment this morning that talked about technology to limit gaming addiction in China. Kids who spend more than their allotted time on a game each day run the risk of having their point scores reduced or erased. An interesting stratagem. I wonder how it will work out.
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