LIBR 220-01
LIBR 220-10
Resources and Information Services in Professions and Disciplines
Topic: Games and Libraries
Fall 2007 Greensheet
Henry Lowood
E-mail (NOTE: Please put LIBR 220: at the beginning of the subject header in all e-mail about the course.)
Phone: 650-723-4602
Office: HRG, Green Library, Stanford University
IM: liebenwalde (xfire or b.net); blutwalde (World of Warcraft)
Office Hours: Please schedule appointments, which will be carried out on-line. If you prefer a telephone conversation, please set up an appt. to call me. If you are in the area, I would be happy to meet with you at my Stanford office.
Group Discussions: Details for several group meetings will be posted on our Blackboard site. I hope that it will be possible to have at least one or two meetings of the entire group together.
| Greensheet Links Textbooks Course Requirements |
Resources Blackboard Blackboard Tutorials SLIS eBookstore |
We will be using The SJSU Blackboard course management system as the central resource for the course, for the syllabus, course materials, assignments, and grading. Please enroll for the course Blackboard site by Sunday, 26 August, at the very latest. The initial assignment and reading will be available on the first day of the course, 23 August. Please ask me for the course access code via e-mail, if you do not receive the message I sent out 19 August through My SJSU.
Course Description
In this course, we will examine the impact of a new medium on libraries: computer and video games, including simulations and virtual worlds. Our subject matter is relatively new in terms of the medium, its impact on libraries, and research on its nature and impact. Due to this novelty and the likelihood that we are not all equally familiar with digital games, we will proceed in stages that will help us all get up to the same speed. (Note: This course does not assume more than very rudimentary familiarity with digital games.) In the first stage, roughly the first third of the course, the focus will be on learning about games, game technology, players, and game studies through readings, discussion, and assignments. In the second stage, we will narrow the focus to topics geared more to an understanding of the impact of games on libraries – as collections, as a paradigm for new understanding new users and uses of libraries, as a potential impact in terms of the application of game designs and technologies. The last stage of the class will be devoted to final projects; you will have the option of preparing a research paper, if you are interested in game studies, or a project proposal (e.g., a collection development plan, a preservation plan, or a service utilizing elements of game design) if you are more interested in the practical impact of games on libraries.
Prerequisites: LIBR 210
Course Objectives
- Demonstrate effective use of a selection of common game technologies, tools, resources, and community sites.
- Have a basic understanding of game genres, player culture and communities, and the game industry.
- Have a basic understanding of the main directions of research in game studies.
- Demonstrate understanding of issues, potential characteristics and possible uses of game collections (including basic preservation issues) and game-based services in libraries.
- Propose a game-based library project and how to evaluate its effectiveness. This will be demonstrated through the completion of a course project, either a game collection proposal, including service model; a research paper on a game studies issue, or a proposal for a library service inspired by game cultures, technologies, or designs.
This course will fulfill the following SLIS Core Competencies:
- recognize the social, cultural and economic dimensions of information use;
- apply the fundamental principles of planning, management and marketing/advocacy;
- use the basic concepts and principles related to the creation, evaluation, selection, acquisition, preservation and organization of specific items or collections of information;
- demonstrate proficiency in the use of current information and communication technologies, and other related technologies, as they affect the resources and uses of libraries and other types of information providing entities;
- understand the nature of research, research methods and research findings; retrieve, evaluate and synthesize scholarly and professional literature for informed decision-making by specific client groups; and
- evaluate programs and services on specified criteria.
Textbooks and Readings
Required Books
- Jack M. Balkin and Beth Simon Noveck, eds., The State of Play: Law, Games and Virtual Worlds (NYU Press, 2006). For Availability, see SLIS eBookstore.
- Katie Salen and Eric Zimmerman, eds., The Game Design Reader: A Rules of Play Anthology (MIT Press, 2005). For Availability, see SLIS eBookstore.
Additional required readings will be made available via the course Blackboard site.
Course Requirements
All required readings, assignments, and course resources will be specified on the course Blackboard site, with the schedule and weekly breakdown of assignments. You are expected to complete all of the assignments.
Assignments
Assignments will break down into three categories:
- Five (5) mini-assignments worth 8 points each (40 pts. total). These will be short written exercises (250-500 words) in response to prompts.
- Ten (10) micro-assignments worth 2 points each (20 pts. total). These will be tasks requiring visits to websites, game-related activities, posting or response to community sites, etc.
- Two (2) project assignments worth 5 points each (10 pts. total). These are part of the process of completing the final project assignment and are intended to keep you on-pace towards timely completion of the project.
- The final project worth 30 points (30 pts. total).
Course Schedule and Calendar
The course will be held entirely on-line and thus is organized on a weekly basis. Every Monday at 8am, assignments from the previous week are due. Example: The first week begins on Thursday, 23 August; the micro-assignment for that week must be completed by 8am on Monday, 27 August.
By my calculation, the course lasts 15 weeks. The first five or six weeks will be devoted to basic knowledge of game design, game culture, game technology, and research (game studies). The next four or five weeks will be devoted to game-related library issues, ranging from library collections and preservation to the deployment of game design in library services or implications from game studies relevant to library use of games. The final five weeks of the course will be devoted to your individual projects.
During the first ten weeks of the course, there will be weekly assignments: one mini-assignment every other week and one micro-assignment every week. During the last five weeks of the course, it is expected that you will focus on your projects; the two projects due during that time will help you to make steady progress towards that goal.
Again, details concerning readings, assignments, and course resources will be on our Blackboard site. Note that the information is provided subject to change with fair notice.
Grading
Points will be assigned after grading of assignments. These points will be cumulated at the end of the course. For the final course grades, I reserve the right to recalculate the grades on a 100-point scale; the recalculation will result in a median grade of 88-93, depending on my assessment of the group’s performance. However, this recalculation will not result in a lower grade than what you would have earned according to the scale below. Let me put this another way: If you all do fantastic work and end up with more than 94 points, you will all get an A or A- grade; if I turn out to be a tough grader and the resulting class median is 75, I reserve the right to make an adjustment. However, I do not promise this adjustment; if the median reflects class performance, then I will stick with those numbers. In any case, points on the 100-point scale will translate into grades per the scale below.
Grading Scale
The standard SJSU SLIS Grading Scale is utilized for all SLIS courses:
| 97-100 | A |
| 94-96 | A- |
| 91-93 | B+ |
| 88-90 | B |
| 85-87 | B- |
| 82-84 | C+ |
| 79-81 | C |
| 76-78 | C- |
| 73-75 | D+ |
| 70-72 | D |
| 67-69 | D- |
| Below 67 | F |
In order to provide consistent guidelines for assessment for graduate level work in the School, these terms are applied to letter grades:
- C represents Adequate work; a grade of "C" counts for credit for the course;
- B represents Good work; a grade of "B" clearly meets the standards for graduate level work;
- A represents Exceptional work; a grade of "A" will be assigned for outstanding work only.
Students are advised that it is their responsibility to maintain a Grade Point Average (GPA) of 3.0.
Late Work
Late work will not be accepted, unless you contact me in advance AND have received a reply from me permitting the work to be turned in late. Please be forewarned: I don’t promise a reply to an e-mail sent to me late Sunday night about an assignment due the next morning.
Missed Work
Missed work will result in a score of zero (0) for the assignment. Obviously, missing the final assignment will have disastrous results for your grade in the course.
Extra Credit
I reserve the right to allow extra credit, but I have no plans for doing so at this time.
Academic Integrity
Your own commitment to learning, as evidenced by your enrollment at San José State University, and the University's Academic Integrity Policy requires you to be honest in all your academic course work. Faculty members are required to report all infractions to the Office of Student Conduct and Ethical Development. The policy on academic integrity can be found at http://www.sjsu.edu/senate/S07-2.htm.
Reasonable Accommodation of Disabilities
If you need course adaptations or accommodations because of a disability,
please e-mail me as soon as possible. Presidential Directive 97-03 requires
that students with disabilities register with the Disability Resource Center
(DRC) to establish record of their disability.
No matter where students reside, they should contact the SJSU DRC to register. The DRC Web site: http://www.drc.sjsu.edu/
One Washington Square - San José, California USA, 95192-0029
Phone: 408-924-2490
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