Topic Talk with Q&A hosted by the Art & Design School Division. Talk will be followed by the regular Division business meeting. All are welcome!
Power Up! How Can Academic Libraries Collect for Video Game Design Students
Presenter: Olivia Miller, MLIS candidate, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Moderator: Claire Gunning, Art/Architecture Librarian, Cooper Union Library
As video games become increasingly more mainstream their legitimacy as a form of art has solidified. The number of universities offering degrees in video game studies and video game design rises annually and more academic librarians now face the task of collecting for this new, highly interdisciplinary field. Game design patrons are similar to studio artists, but with a technological twist. Many librarians are unfamiliar and uncomfortable with the subject matter and intimidated by the thought of collecting video games and related materials. This talk will summarize a study in which the information behaviors of video game design students are being identified, as a way to shine light on the individual users needs and practices to better collect for this unique user group.