Thing 15: Online Games and Libraries

I was more drawn to Puzzle Pirates but was blocked from both it and Second Life from school. Puzzle Pirates required some application to run so I viewed several videos relating to Second Life instead. Gaming has a huge draw with a significant sector of the population. To reach these patrons, libraries can and should enter in. I firmly believe that gaming can be harnessed for powerful learning. The difficulties that I personally face though are a slow internet connection and an inability to meet many software requirements. My guess is that others, particularly in rural areas, face these same limitations. For some, online gaming is a positive way to recreate, participate in a community and engage in experiences not available to them in real life. On a negative side, I have personally known several young men who were obsessed with virtual online worlds/gaming in an unhealthy way (literally resulting in admittance to the psych ward). As we work with young people, online gaming is not a substitute for human community interaction and exercise. It might be interesting to create a virtual community in my area with opportunities to imitate/engage in similar activites in real life meeting those virtual characters. I also wonder how ethics are taught to community members. Sometimes anonymity (or perceived anonymity) allows participants to behave in an unseemly manner they wouldn't employ if interacting in person.