Video Game Preservation Colloquium at FI

Hi, I'm Steve, your mostly-invisible SLA-TSG blog minder. I've decided to use my editorial prerogative, just this once.

This is really only tangentially related to special libraries, but I feel it deserves a place here because it has something to do with the non-traditional library career interests of this blog’s (presumed) readership. Why this is so won't become apparent until a little later on, so don't give up on me.

Ahem.

Yesterday here at the Faculty of Information we had a visit from Megan Wingt, of the University of Texas, Austin. She just got a research grant from IMLS to fund her study of issues surrounding the preservation and description of video games. She didn't say how much the grant was for, but these IMLS awards max out at a million dollars, so it's probably a lot. She's actually been working with games for some time already in her role as head of the University of Texas Archives' Preserving Games Project, whose website you can visit.

What was interesting about this talk, from a career perspective, was Wingt's discussion of some of the measures she was taking to move the project forward. She made it sound like she'd really had to show some entrepreneurial spirit. It makes sense to me that a project like this would require such strong advocacy. Video games have an image problem. They are entertainment culture's acne-ridden offspring, and so it can't be easy winning approval for a project whose goal is to save them forever. People who care about them are not yet positioned to award grant money. They are, for the most part, too young.

Surprisingly, the crowd at the lecture was fairly diverse. I was expecting a roomful of nerdily-inclined students like myself (and we were well represented, to be sure), but actually there was a pretty thick contingent of FI faculty, older students, archives students, etc. Everyone really seemed genuinely concerned about the logistics of video game preservation, even if they hadn't--as one FI professor admitted during the Q and A--played a single video game since Pac Man.

To sell the project to administrators and grant-awarding bodies, who presumably, like the FI professor, had a familiarity with video games that began and ended with early-'80s arcade culture, Wingt had to learn to frame her project in terms of ethnography. Her grant is for the "study of creative behaviors and methods of game creators." In other words, she didn't get her money by simply telling IMLS she wanted to collect lots of cool stuff.

In fact, she said, she rejects the "closet of curiosities" model of video game preservation entirely (by which I assume she means shelves and shelves of old, defunct hardware). After analysis, she has decided that the project's real value to institutions and future users is in what it can say about the culture of games.

If the distinction between games and game culture doesn't seem clear, that's because it isn't, at all. What I took away from the talk and the subsequent Q and A is that the two things are actually inseparable. At one point Wingt was even talking about filming people in the act of playing video games as a means of capturing culture and game simultaneously. The two things are so close together that they can actually coexist on the same screen. (Researchers must not be denied the edifying experience of hearing people trash talk one another over Xbox Live!) Her message was that truly preserving games requires a record of how contemporary players are reacting to them. As it happens, the most eloquent possible centerpiece for such a record would have to be the game itself.

Wingt's project is very much involved with saving games, but its selling point is its cultural significance and its ethnographic rigor. She's trying to save the cool stuff, but she's doing it in service of a cultural record that may not prove its value for decades.

This is a project with roots in two very different communities of interest. To gamers, it's the games themselves that matter, but libraries and archives require a fuller understanding of the medium's nascent heritage before they'll actually collect them. Part of getting the funding for saving the games themselves involved weaving a story about their likely future value so that non-gamers could feel their importance.

My impression is that Wingt is not alone in this struggle. By which I mean the struggle to appeal to disparate interests. If I were a special librarian, working for a company whose management had trouble seeing value in the aspects of my service that didn't translate directly into revenue, wouldn't I also need to somehow convince those in power that what I was doing was worthwhile? This is basically the exact inverse of the video game problem. Instead of proving the long-term value of their activities, corporate special librarians have to attend to payoff at some point in the now. Regardless of timeframe, these notions of "value" and "payoff" in libraries are very slippery. Gaining traction in this environment might require librarians to occasionally construct good stories, in which to cast themselves as heroes and saviors.

Maybe writing good grant applications and budget justifications takes a little bit of a fiction-writing mindset. Which is not to say that librarians should make things up, but that they should be able to deploy the craft of representation to make projects with subtle payoff feel intuitively correct to the people who cut checks.

Thoughts?

Professional Profile: Sonia Solomon - Merrill Lynch Canada

Question: How did you get your start in the information profession?

A friend of mine was studying for a library technician program and I occasionally helped with doing research for her homework. After becoming more and more interested in library and information work, I decided to enrol at the graduate library program at the University of Toronto. Sonia’s first work experience in the field was a summer position at the Legislative Library of Ontario.

Question: Please describe your current position.

I work as the Vice-President of the Corporate Library at Merrill Lynch Canada. I started at Midland Doherty shortly after graduation. After a couple takeovers, the company is now called Merrill Lynch Canada. Merrill Lynch was recently acquired by Bank of America. The Corporate Library is focused on serving internal clients – providing our staff with research to help them in their work, rather than the general public. The subject matter can range from Canada’s oil industry to questions on aerospace – anything Merrill Lynch is involved in can involve the Library.

One of the interesting challenges involves taking the time to learn the information needs of different offices and staff. We’ve supported brokers, marketing staff, the human resources department, and client development. You have to find the right thing for your client - there’s no one size fits all service here. Further, I represent the corporate library to others at the company. It is important to be out there and meet people – you have to create a lot of your own opportunities. I also work with other information professionals who work at Merrill Lynch’s offices across Canada (e.g. Edmonton and Montreal) and the world (e.g. London). For example, when the New York office went down on September 11, 2001, the Toronto office played a major role in supporting Merrill Lynch staff in the United States. We support and collaborate with each other to provide the best service to our clients, even though most of our day to day operations are independent.

Question: What advice do you have for new graduates?

Much of the library education I was familiar with was very focused on the public sector environment. If you wish to work in the private sector, address this by taking time to learn more about business; learn something about finance, sales and even communications. In this field, it helps a great deal to be interested and understand as much as you can of the firm’s business. Clients are not interested in cataloguing standards – they want quality service and help meeting their information needs. Many times the requests are challenging and can be difficult. My role is to provide the client with the materials they need to do their job. Delivering good results is the key to client satisfaction.

Finally, no matter where you are, you have to be curious and open to opportunities. In this field, you need to be prepared to wear a lot of hats. Roles evolve, new technologies emerge and it is vital to stay informed about changing trends. I wouldn’t trade this for the world – I find this profession to be fascinating!

Question: Can you comment on the role that the Special Libraries Association (SLA) has played in your career:

SLA, professional organizations and networking are very important. The experience and knowledge of others is invaluable at all stages of a career. In the early years of my career, I found that SLA was critical, to meeting others in the profession. Courses and meetings were a font of excellent information and insight. As time went on, and I became more experienced, I still valued the insight of others. Bouncing ideas off of others can be very helpful because working in a corporate setting you are usually the only person in the company doing the work that you do. The information specialists at Merrill Lynch who work in our offices around the world are important to us in that they support us in our reference work, providing information that we may not have available to us locally, and we have a forum to bounce ideas and strategies that we face in our business.

Contact: sonia UNDERSCORE solomon AT ml DOT com

-Interview conducted by Bruce Harpham

More Ways to Get Yourself To DC For (Close To) Free

Check out this excellent post on the SLA Illinois Chapter blog.

Deadlines are drawing awfully close, though, so anyone serious about pursuing any of these awards had best get started.

Feel like spending a few days in Washington DC this Summer?

This year's SLA annual conference is going to be held in Washington DC. If you happen to be a student with an interest in business librarianship, the SLA Business and Finance Division wants to give you $1500 to go there. Maybe Barack Obama will notice your fresh, eager face and offer you a position as the first ever Secretary of Information. In fact, I'd count on it.

Here's the full press release from the Business and Finance Division:

Subject: Student Stipend Awards
January 13, 2009

TO LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE PROGRAMS:

The Special Libraries Association Business and Finance Division is offering student stipend awards to help cover expenses at the 2009 SLA Annual Conference in Washington DC, June 14-17, 2009. The Division will award student stipends and professional grants for a total of up to six $1,500 awards. The enclosed announcement details the entry requirements and application procedures. Please post the enclosed announcement or distribute copies to the students who are interested in careers in business libraries. An electronic version of the announcement is available for posting on student listservs or websites at:
http://units.sla.org/division/dbf/awards/descriptions.html#pgssa

Please note that applicants should be members of the SLA Business & Finance Division by March 2, 2009 to be eligible for consideration. Students can join online at the following website: http://www.sla.org/content/membership/joinsla/index.cfm

Information about the SLA Business and Finance Division is at: http://units.sla.org/division/dbf/.

The conference theme is "2009 - "Information to Inspiration: Knowledge & Vision Shaping the Future (r)". Participation in the programs, opportunities for networking, exposure to new information products and possible job leads at the employment clearinghouse will make this
conference a valuable experience for students.

I appreciate your help in informing students about the stipend awards. Please contact me if you have any questions about the award or the application process.

Sincerely,

Awilda Reyes

Professional Profile: Sophia Apostol - Coutts Information Services

Question: Tell me about your career so far.

Sophia began her library career at YBP Library Service as a library vendor that provided books (both in print and electronic) and supporting collection management and technical services to academic, research and special libraries. Through her co-op placement at the University of Guelph, she met a librarian who put her in touch with a manager at YBP, and she landed her first job with the organization even before she had completed her degree! Sophia worked as the Sales Manager for Canada, which entailed managing accounts for all of the organization’s Canada clientele. Sophia traveled all over the country, working with clients to determine their collections development needs and offering YBP’s products and services to help meet their demands.

Having established herself in the professional world, and sufficiently tired of the all-familiar “airplane smell,” Sophia decided to pursue a different field of librarianship by accepting a position at the Seneca@York campus of Seneca College. There, she worked as an Instruction Librarian, providing reference services, information literacy classes, and collection development. The knowledge she gained at YBP – working with academic librarians and academic library products – assisted her in understanding her new role in an educational setting.

Upon completing the contract position at Seneca, Sophia turned back to the world of library vendors to seek out her next position – a position for which she herself wrote the job description. Tapping into her personal network of information professionals, she wrote to a former colleague and described exactly what she was seeking in her next job. Her assertiveness paid off when the colleague called back to say he had the perfect job for her, which is how Sophia found herself in her current position as the Knowledge Resources Manager for Coutts Information Services.

Question: What does your current work for Coutts entail?

Coutts is a full service supplier of books and electronic content from publishers and distributors worldwide. They provide collections services and resources to libraries to make sure they get the books and e-resources they need to serve their patrons effectively.

As the Knowledge Resources Manager, Sophia ensures sound knowledge sharing practices within the organization to create better-informed team members and more satisfied clients. She ensures that people within the organization have access and exposure to the information and knowledge not only to do their jobs, but to do them better, by meeting clients’ needs and developing stronger, more usable products.

Sophia’s work is also client-facing: she provides user training on Coutts library products, working with collections development librarians and instructing them in how to use Coutts’ collections management products.

What’s more, Sophia is very excited to be embarking on interface design and information architecture for Coutts’ products. She works with the IT department on how to create usable, accessible products that meet the changing needs of academic and research librarians.

It is clear from her enthusiasm and positivity that she is incredibly excited about her role at Coutts, and is thoroughly enjoying her role with the organization!

Question: What are your tips for new professionals embarking on their careers in the information professions?

Network, network, network: Sophia got all her professional positions through professional contacts, and she cannot emphasize enough how important it is to meet people in the field and get your name out in the library world. This includes participation in professional associations, conferences, networking events and other venues, where you can meet members of the library profession, and maybe meet your future boss! We’re especially lucky in this profession: Librarians are friendly, approachable, and they love helping new professionals find their bearings, so don’t be afraid to network.

Be your own advocate: You have to be assertive with your employer if you want support for your professional development; time away from work to attend conferences, the ability to pursue continuing education, support in skills upgrades are all things you will have to negotiate with your boss, so be prepared to stick up for yourself and advocate for your needs. Librarians are not famous for being demanding and assertive, but it will pay off professionally, so don’t be scared to speak up!

All experience is good experience: Sophia gained a lot from the work experience of Western’s co-op program. Not only did she learn more about the field of librarianship, but she also figured out her professional likes and dislikes. It was in these co-op positions that Sophia made the first contact that has subsequently led to her various professional positions. So get exposure to a variety of library settings through work experience, job shadowing, or practicum classes – even if you don’t love it, it will help you make decisions about the direction of your career, and help you make professional connections in the field.

Question: Where do you see the future of our profession?

Sophia hopes that librarians will continue to explore collaborative technologies and become more and more proficient with social software. Make sure to maintain your technical skills and be curious about new and emerging tools – these collaborative tools have huge potential for improving information sharing and distribution, which will help librarians do their jobs better.

She also encourages librarians to be savvy with their marketing and advocacy approaches: When working at Seneca, Sophia created a Facebook page to answer students’ reference questions – and it was a big success! Know your users and your stakeholders so you can make informed decisions about how to meet the objectives of libraries: Making information accessible! Don’t be scared of applying some “business savvy” in your job. Being strategic, visible, and accountable is not a bad thing, whether you are in a public, academic or special library.

Although the economy is slowing down, there are lots of jobs out there for new professionals, but they’re not always posted. Get your name out there in the library world, and your chances of getting a call from an information organization will only get better!

-Interview Conducted by Meghan Ecclestone