Circulating Software

[Gin]

For the past 5 years I've selected children's software CDROMs for a circulating collection. I'm looking for thoughts and opinions on this format. I try to select educational materials and I use Children's Technology Review to help detemine functionality and popularity, but it seems that CDROM games are not as popular as they once were. Do you think internet based games/websites and game consoles are going to make this media obsolete?

We do not circulate any other game format at this time. Does your library and if so do what pros and cons do you see?

Looking forward to your thoughts!

[Kate Warren]

Hi Gin,

We do circulate CDROMs in children's currently, but I have to agree with you that we've seen a steady decline in interest. I've thought about getting rid of them altogether as it seems no one takes them out! We do not circulate any other game format either.

I've been thinking for a while that other forms of gaming (internet and otherwise) is definitely shifiting the focus away from CDROMs. I also have thought about circulating PlayStation games and other formats, but am really concerned about the amount it would take up in my budget! CDs and DVDs barely came back in good shape so I'm not sure how long these games would last. Also, (and perhaps this isn't the most popular place to say this) but I'm sort of the opinion that perhaps games aren't something libraries need to be investing money in. I know kids are really into them (which there is nothing wrong with!), but does that mean we have to buy/circulate them? I'm not sure what they have to do with reading, literacy, etc. Still working that one out in my head....

Just some food for thought.

[ozlibrarian]

Kate, our library service does not lend out playstation games for the reasons you mentioned, yet we get asked for them constantly. I'm not sure of their value in a library when you consider the nature of most of the games, mind you, you could say the same about the content of alot of rap lyrics and adult graphic novels and those collections have a really high turnover (and theft rate) However, could they be a hook to get the teens in?

[ozlibrarian]

We also circulate cdrom games. However there are continuing problems with pc compatability and passwords. The kids play games on the internet in the library all the time, they love them. cdroms in general certainly aren't as popular as they once were, but they do have the advantage over the internet because of the packaged content; no worries about slow downloading, advertising etc. I know many parents feel that a cdrom product is a safer alternative for little kids to unsupervised surfing of the net, where the probability of accessing dodgy sites is pretty high.

[Gin]

Thanks for your thoughts ladies, exactly the type of brainstorming I'm looking for!