I was glad to meet Liz Danforth at my afternoon session of “The Hyperlinked Library” in Phoenix last week. The group was buzzing about her new blog and column about gaming at Library Journal:
http://www.libraryjournal.com/blog/1130000713/post/500041650.html
A bit of her introductory post:
Most of my time freelancing I’ve also worked in libraries as a part-time paraprofessional. I love freelancing but it’s lonely. I like being around people and I truly love libraries: literate and curious people, engaging co-workers, and a genuinely meaningful mission to make a difference in one’s community. I finally broke down and went to library school, completing my MLS in 2008. I have been amazed and delighted to find my first career intersecting with the sea change sweeping through today’s libraries: many libraries are holding regular gaming events, ALA Anaheim (2008) had an entire area for gaming-related vendors, and Verizon Foundation has seen fit to fund ALA with a $1M grant in support of literacy and gaming. (I’m one of the folks on ALA’s team of “grant experts.”)
What do I hope to bring to LJ’s readership, here and in print? A deep background to understand games, gaming, and gamers, in and out of the library. Different ways of looking at gaming programs in libraries. The intersection of literature and games, authors and gaming. I’ll look at what people get out of games, what people learn and what games teach, overtly and under the radar alike. I’ll consider the popular press and the academic work done on games and gaming. If something hits the media news channels, I’ll check it out and get with you on it. I’ll advocate for gaming but never turn a blind eye to the criticisms of games either. In fact, my first non-introductory blog post will be “Why Games?”
I am also very interested in her research about skills acquired in World of Warcraft that may transfer to real life. The survey is at http://tinyurl.com/SkillsSurvey. Liz told me: “It is live until the end of April and there is an opt-in to win one of five possible WoW timecards as a thank participants for participation.”
Take a look and let’s welcome Liz to the biblioblogosphere!