TechSource Gaming, Libraries, and Learning Symposium, Day 2

Today was the major day of the symposium, with a keynote and seven rounds of concurrent sessions. Because of the sheer number, today's post is going to cover highlights rather than a comprehensive review. Keynote "Grand Theft Childhood? Real Data on Violent Video Games and Youth" Lawrence Kutner, Center for Mental Health and Media, Department of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital Adults viewing youth culture as a threat is nothing new. Kutner opened his speech reviewing some of the social panics of the past century or so, starting with Anthony Comstock's 1886 outcry against the "corrupting" influence of paperback novels on youth, through the gangster movies of the 1930s, horror comics of the 1940s and 50s, and television violence in the 1970s, 80s, and 90s. Against this backdrop, Kutner suggested that research data does not support the notion that video game violence leads to real-world violence. "Violence in schools in the past 20 years has gone down," Kutner said. "Media coverage of violence in schools has gone up." Kutner surveyed about 1,250 kids from 12-14 years of age about their gaming habits. As others have found, gaming is nearly ubiquitous among this age group, and many play games that are rated M for mature. "Most kids who play M-rated games at age 12, 13, or 14 are just fine," he observed. Youths play games for many reasons. One area of genuine concern is gamers who play to manage their emotions—to forget their problems, get their anger out, or feel less lonely. These gamers tend to spend a lot of time gaming, and they tend to spend a lot of time gaming alone. "It's not that the games are causing problems, but this pattern of play may be a marker of other problems" like depression, Kutner said. Kutner also suggested that the ever-increasing realism of games may lead to less game violence. "We found in talking to kids that the attraction was not the violence, but the complexity of the characters," he said. "Without that, they find it boring. HYPEr Activity: Detroit Public Library's Teen Center Oneka Wilson and Steve Teeri Birth of a Teen Activity Room Jean Gardner, YA Team Leader, Topeka and Shawnee County (Kans.) Public Library In a shared session, Wilson, Teeri and Gardner discussed the new teen spaces at their respective libraries. Detroit Public Library opened the Helping Young People Excel center May 16 this year. The 4,000-square-foot space was the children's reading room when the building opened in 1923, and has had several functions since then, most recently the business and finance department. The room's offerings include gaming on Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation, CD listening stations, DVD viewing stations, modular work tables, mobile couches, 3 quiet study rooms, and a portable stage. The room also houses a full teen book selection, including reference, nonfiction, fiction, manga, and urban fiction. "Administrators were really energized by this," Wilson said. "We had just gone through a millage a few years ago and one of the mandates of that millage was to be innovative." Topeka's teen room, dubbed "The Edge," is even newer—opening last Thursday, October 30. (Gardner admitted that due to travel, she had not yet worked a shift in the new space.) The library had a teen space built in 2001, Dave and Jay's Place, but it was proving to be too crowded for the teens and too noisy for other patrons. Dave and Jay's Place still offers teens traditional library services, while activities including gaming have moved to the Edge. Building After School Game Clubs Using Total War Seann M. Dikkers University of Wisconsin Madison Games Learning Society Group The Total War franchise is a series of war strategy games based strongly in history, with each title simulating wars through a different era. "[The apparent violence] ulls kids into the game to start with, but it kind of tricks them, because it's a strategy game," Dikkers said. "Your whole desire is to run a successful empire through an era. You want to protect your army." The game engages students with history. Dikkers provided an example of one scenario where a student was playing the side of the Native Americans trying to fight off Columbus. That student smuggled a history textbook into the library to try to develop a strategy to beat Columbus back. "If you're interested, then you pursue literacy," Dikkers said. "Once the interest is there, the academics follow." In a library setting, Dikkers suggested 2-3 hour gaming sessions, with a mandatory 5-10 minute break to help the students learn to stop playing, and a 10-15 minute period at the end reserved for the students to clean up the room and for students to interact critically about the game. "Don't stop their game play, just prick them with questions," Dikkers said. Suitable questions include "What's your strategy?" "Why are you doing that?" or "What would you tell a new player to focus on to get good at the game?" Dikkers also recommended against pretending to know things you don't, because kids will respect a novice who is working at learning, and they will "gang up to teach you." Grandma's Got a Wii! Allan M. Kleiman, former director, Old Bridge (N.J.) Public Library. Kleiman shared his experience introducing gaming programs to seniors at Old Bridge Public Library. "I don't think the seniors are 'gamers' yet; they're still learning in terms of technology," Kleiman said. That said, the gaming programs are successful and attract strong attendance. Kleiman noted that many people have contacted him saying that senior gaming events don't attract an audience. "Everyone that has failed has said that it's a one-time event. How are you going to get someone who doesn't really know what it is to come in and game when they aren't going to do it at home again?" One solution, obviously, is to have a regularly scheduled gaming program. Kleiman also suggested that light refreshments help to get seniors to try a program, and that it's important to make the games fun rather than school. Old Bridge also used its teen advisory board to help train seniors, although some special preparation was needed. "Usually teens are so fast in training that the seniors shake their heads that they got it, and when the teens walk away, they say 'I didn't understand any of that.'" Kleiman said. To counter this, the library trained the teens on how older adults learn, and rewarded them for attending the session with an open gaming session of their own. Turning Gamers into Readers: What Wii Can Do Lori Easterwood, Teen Librarian, Sacramento Public Library, and Lindsey Wesson, Continuing Education Coordinator, Tennessee State Library and Archives. Wesson and Easterwood contended that games can be viewed as texts, so the games that a player likes can be used in reader's advisory.  For example, in strategy and simulation games, decision making has a big impact, puzzles are frequently integral, the games are usually first-person and take place in a realistic (and often historical) setting. Books with similar traits will likely appeal to the same audience. In trying to turn gamers onto books, however, "Don't treat it like a reference interview because that will turn them off," Wesson said. "Treat it like a conversation." She also suggested initiating the conversation, because many students won't volunteer their gaming habits; publicizing books with displays, booktalks, and "If you like these games, try these books"-type brochures; and recommending the "big guns"—those games that best grab readers in the first pages.