The Shifted Librarian: Miscellaneous Roundup

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Thursday, July 7, 2005

Miscellaneous Roundup

I’ve started a GamingInLibraries Flickr group. It’s totally public so anyone, say someone like you, can join. I’ve gotten a couple of calls from various press outlets over the last couple of months regarding the gaming summit, one of which wanted a picture for the article. I referred them to my pictures on Flickr, but it would be cool to have all kinds of different pictures of gaming in libraries not just for this purpose, but also to show the energy you see at these events. You can also include pictures of librarians gaming, as I did by starting the pool with pictures from our summit.
Today Beth Gallaway started a new blog called Game On: Games in Libraries. I’m sure this will be a great resource, so the Atom feed is here. Beth can correct me if I’m wrong, but I think the intent is for this to be a collaborative site so give her a ping if you want to contribute.
On the LibGaming list, Beth asked what subscribers are playing right now. I listed a few games but mostly noted ones I’m not playing due to the fear that I’ll lose whole months of my life in the blink of an eye. Christopher, The Curmudgeony Librarian, schooled me that there is a formal term for this – catassing. A new term to add for buzzword bingo, and a great new addition to my vocabulary.
Will Cox pointed me to LuLu, the CafePress of physical media. And you thought it was easy to self-publish before….
Greene County Public Library highlights a couple of pretty cool things on their home page. First, they’re running a monthly trivia contest that encourages patrons to use the library’s subscription databases to answer the question, and second, they are partnering with community groups to sponsor the first annual “Greene County S-P-E-L-L-S” spelling bee for adults, with all proceeds to go to their Library Foundation. It’s a great idea, and just think what kind of documentary could come out of this!
If I wasn’t already going to the ImprovOlympics 25th Anniversary Reunion Show scheduled for the same night, I’d definitely go to Video Games Live on August 27. If anyone in the Chicago area goes, please let us know if it’s as cool as it sounds!
Both The Boston Globe and The Chicago Sun-Times recently hyped RSS. That’s not really a trumpet to herald anymore, as 2005 has already become “the year of RSS,” but it’s only slightly ironic that the link to the Globe’s feed is in the smallest type possible at the very bottom of the page (they don’t even bother to capitalize “RSS”), while The Sun-Times doesn’t offer a single feed. The Sun-Times writer even says, “Thank God for RSS” in his article. Just don’t ask God for a Sun-Times RSS feed, I guess. (And yes I know there is a NewsIsFree feed for the CST, but I doubt the CST knows this.)