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Happy National Library Week! Also, Happy School Library Month!

Here just a few weeks away from the end of the semester, I feel like I've finally gotten into a rhythm where I'm ready to return to the kidlitosphere.  I hope you'll all take me back!  I thought this week was an especially good time for it, due to it being National Library Week, School Library Month, and the Teen Book Drop on Thursday.

While you’re waiting for me to return with real content, please contact your senators to support library funding, participate in Operation TBD, and/or help out with the reservation book wishlists at Guys Lit Wire.

Also, if you’re planning on going to ALA annual I’d love to know! My husband and I will be there at least Friday night through Monday afternoon, and we may end up staying through Tuesday. I’d love to meet up!

Resource Review: GameFAQs

GameFAQs (http://www.gamefaqs.com) is a fully-searchable online archive of video and computer game information.  It is owned by the GameSpot network but independently operated by Allen Tynan, a member of the site since its inception in 1995 and a GameFAQs employee since 2004.  GameFAQs is free but ad-supported.  Strict policies ensure that ads are relevant and appropriate for all audiences.

GameFAQs provides multiple interface options.  For the user who wishes to find information for a specific game quickly, a search box sits immediately below the site’s logo, with a drop-down menu allowing the user to limit the search to a specific platform.   Those who prefer browsing may use the navigation bar labeled “Platforms” which lists all of the video game consoles in the two most recent generations as well as PCs and an “All Systems” option; the site also provides a dropdown menu on the same bar which includes several older platforms.  The user can then further narrow her options by selecting titles beginning with a specific letter of the alphabet or in genres such as “Action,” “Role-Playing,” and “Sports.”

The site’s scope is both broad and deep.  It includes user-submitted FAQs for games as old as the 1972 Magnavox release “Table Tennis” and as new as “Final Fantasy XIII,” with a US release date of March 9, 2010.  The full system list includes over 100 platforms for computer and video games.  The depth of FAQs varies depending on the game.  For the puzzle game “Tetris,” only general FAQs are provided, consisting of information such as game controls, pieces, and general strategies.  For “DragonAge: Origins,” a recent role-playing game, a nearly 40,000 word walkthrough guides the player through each plot element in the game; also available for this game are guides for specific character types, hidden content, the magic system, and item creation.

While GameFAQs is not the only resource of this type, it is unique in its affordability, comprehensiveness and accessibility.  Commercially available guides such as those produced by Prima and Brady Games only address one game at a time and have list prices in the $20 to $30 range.  Gaming magazines like GamePro do not have searchable archives and have cover prices of about $6 per issue.  Other online sources, such as IGN, include only general FAQs.  Unlike these sites, GameFAQs requires that most of its guides be presented in ASCII text format, ensuring accessibility and interoperability.  GameFAQs also includes social aspects such as message boards and a Q&A feature where users can respond to each others’ questions about games.  Both this and the fact that GameFAQs relies entirely on user-contributed content give young adults who join the community the opportunity to write for an authentic audience.

GameFAQs is a valuable resource for all gamers, but may be of particular interest to library youth services departments and middle and high school librarians.  Teachers looking for authentic audiences for student writing can take advantage of the community aspects of the site.  Young adult services librarians will find it useful both for individual patrons and as a support for gaming programming.  With its low cost and wide appeal, this resource is suitable for school, public, and academic libraries.

Pokemon for the 21st-Century Learner

In his excellent post, Pokemon 101 for Teachers & Librarians, JP of 8bitlibrary.com answers the question, “What does Pokemon have to do with schools/libraries?”  I’d like to take that a bit further and, based on his points, articulate what it has to do with school libraries.

I believe that gaming is an excellent way for students to develop the skills, dispositions, responsibilities, and self-assessment strategies which will carry them into the future.  We can see exactly how this works for Pokemon by aligning it with AASL’s Standards for the 21st-Century Learner.  [Note: I have only played Pokemon Red and I never actually finished it; I have played the Pokemon Trading Card Game quite a bit.]

First, let’s address a couple of the foundational beliefs.

Reading is a window to the world.  If a student can’t read, she’ll have a hard time playing Pokemon, either the video game or the card game.  In both the video game and the card game, students are required to read descriptions of the individual Pokemon and their powers to determine which Pokemon to use as they battle their opponent.  In the video game, they also have to read as they engage in conversation with characters in the game.

Learning has a social context. In some versions of Pokemon, players can engage in multiplayer battles.  Players must trade Pokemon if they wish to complete their Pokedex, an in-game database which contains information about the individual Pokemon.  There is, to my knowledge, no solitaire version of the Pokemon card game; it must be played opposite an opponent.

Now, let’s move on to specific standards and indicators.

Learners use skills, resources, and & tools to:

1. Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge.
  • 1.1.2 Use prior and background knowledge as context for new learning. As students play Pokemon, they build their knowledge about the game's system and rules.  They can transfer this knowledge to new situations within the game and to other games in the series.
2. Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to knew situations, and create new knowledge.
  • 2.1.4 Use technology and other information tools to analyze and organize information. As mentioned before, players must use the Pokedex as they play the video game to make decisions.  As JP mentions in his post, the community-driven encyclopedia Bulbapedia involves a significant flow of information which students might use to enhance their playing or contribute to from their own knowledge.
  • 2.1.5 Collaborate with others to exchange ideas, develop new understandings, make decisions, and solve problems. The social nature of Pokemon encourages this kind of behavior.
  • 2.1.6 Use the writing process, media and visual literacy, and technology skills to create products that express new understandings.  Bulbapedia provides players with the opportunity to do just this.  It also has a style manual, which will help students learn to write within certain constraints.
3.  Share knowledge and participate ethically and productively as members of our democratic society.
  • 3.1.3 Use writing and speaking skills to communicate new understandings effectively. Once again, the social aspects of Pokemon and opportunity to contribute to a community-driven encyclopedia come into play.
  • 3.1.4 Use technology and other information tools to organize and display knowledge and understanding in ways that others can view, use, and assess. I'm beginning to sound like a scratched CD here, but this is yet another example of a time when communication about the game, rather than the game itself, is relevant.
  • 3.3.5 Contribute to the exchange of ideas within and beyond the learning community. See above.
4. Pursue personal and aesthetic growth.
  • 4.1.1 Read, view, and listen for pleasure and personal growth. I think "Play" should be added to this indicator, but even if it is not, the other three actions are situated within the game.  There is a wealth of relevant non-game material as well, including both fiction and non-fiction books, a cartoon series, and movies.
  • 4.1.7 Use social networks and information tools to gather and share information. Look, another opportunity for social interaction surrounding the game to come into play!  (Forgive the pun, please.)
  • 4.3.1 Participate in the social exchange of ideas, both electronically and in person. See above.
There are many other ways in which Nintendo's vast Pokemon empire can be used to enhance students' learning.  How can you take advantage of this opportunity in your school library?

An actual announced hiatus, kind of.

My participation in the Kidlitosphere is on again-off again, mostly off, and right now while I’m not actually physically stressed out by the subscriptions in my Google Reader or the messages in my inbox, it has become only so much digital clutter.  So I am declaring myself on hiatus until further notice, which I hope will be sooner (March or April?) rather than later.  I have a lot going on and I need to pare things down.  So where can you find me in the meanwhile?

I’ll still be posting my booklists here.

I won’t be using the @lectitans Twitter account during this hiatus. I’m planning to use @kimberlyhirsh, though. You can search for me on Facebook.

What’s going on in my life?

  1. I’m in library school. It’s excellent but it’s a lot of reading.
  2. I’m in the Durham Savoyards’ production on The Mikado.
  3. I’m working on my own happiness project. If that’s something you’d care to follow, I’ve created a livejournal for it at ping_jing. Adding the Kidlitosphere back to my life will be part of the happiness project but it’s a later phase. Right now, I’m focusing on my health.

Where can you not find me? Here for anything other than my booklists, probably. On mailing lists - I’ve set them to Web only, except for yalsa-bk.

I’ll see you all later. I’m not gone forever. I just thought it would be rude to keep up this absenteeism without letting you know where I was.

Comment Challenge 2010 Check In

How are you doing?  Here’s my count:

Jan 8 - 5 comments Jan 9 - 5 comments Jan 10 - 0 comments Jan 11 - 2 comments Jan 12 - 0 comments Jan 13 - 0 comments

As you can see, I started strong and then fizzled out.  I’m going to adjust my goal to 2 comments per day.  (It’s 2 more than I was doing before!)  That’s for a total of 42, which is always a good number to be aiming for.

Poetry Friday: Comes a Train of Little Ladies

I had my first rehearsal for The Mikado last night and in honor of that I'm using some lyrics from the show for today's Poetry Friday post.  These are the lyrics to the song when I, as a member of the ladies' stage chorus, first appear.

Comes a train of little ladies From scholastic trammels free, Each a little bit afraid is, Wondering what the world can be!

Is it but a world of trouble — Sadness set to song? Is its beauty but a bubble Bound to break ere long?

Are its palaces and pleasures Fantasies that fade? And the glory of its treasures Shadow of a shade? And the glory of its treasures Shadow of a shade? Shadow of a shade?

Schoolgirls we, eighteen and under, From scholastic trammels free, And we wonder — how we wonder! — We wonder — how we wonder! — What on earth the world can be! What on earth the world can be!

Currently Reading and Goals

So I have some goals in addition to reading 40 books this year that I’d like to share with you.

  1. Read no more than one nonfiction, one fiction, and one graphic novel at a time.
  2. Inspired by Colleen’s excellent post and this year’s YALSA YA Lit Symposium theme, I’m going to think more, read more, and write more about diversity in publishing.

I’m sure I’ll find more as I move through the year.

Currently Reading: Nonfiction - Time Management from the Inside Out by Julie Morganstern Fiction - The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle

I’m not currently reading a graphic novel but I’m planning to pick up the Angel: After the Fall compilations (they’re hardcover!) from the shelf today.  The shelf in my house.  The comic book shelf.  (It is supplemented by the comic book box.  And then of course, there’s Will’s hundreds and hundres of issues in the attic.)

Next Up: Nonfiction - The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin or Odd Girl Out by Rachel Simmons Fiction - Dragon’s Keep by Janet Lee Carey or Dreams of the Dead by Thomas Randall

Which of these I read next will just depend on my mood, but it’s always nice to have a plan.