Anyone born after 1970 has grown up playing video games, and this means that they probably have a different mindset from those born before 1970 – there is what one panelist called a "digital divide." I am a member of the older, non-gaming generation, and although my now-grown kids all played games of various sorts, from Pong and Mario, to goodness knows what more recently, I can’t quite get away from a sneaky feeling that a "gamer" is somehow not a good thing to be. However, gaming is a reality, and not something we should judge or ignore. Certainly, as librarians, we all need to understand the gaming mentality in order to better serve our patrons.

Most video games are played by children between the ages of five and fifteen, which is, of course, when the basic neural pathways are developing. Up until age eleven or so, boys and girls play more or less equally, but by the time they reach their teens, more males are playing. Teen boys also play many games that involve shooting things, which is how many of us older folks view video games in general, as simply "shooting things." However, there are many other kinds of games as well. For example, the Sims game is a virtual dollhouse, very popular (especially with girls) and worth $1.5 billion – clearly gaming is very important economically! And not only are there direct costs, like buying the game or logging in to play it, but associated costs as well. For instance, there is brisk trade in how-to manuals and within some games you can buy and sell characters, which have reached certain levels (e.g., a Jedi in a Star Wars game).

There is also a substantial time investment by players, not only in actually playing the game but in everything associated, studying the how-to manuals, talking with friends, official and unofficial bulletin boards and chat rooms around the games, etc. That’s another interesting point – we may think of gamers as solitary and unsocial, but in fact there are often a lot of social activities that revolve around games. Even if a child is sitting alone in his room, he may be communicating with friends online about a game. And today there are more and more games that are online and interactive (Massively Multiplayer Online Games or MMOGs). In these, players have characters through which they interact with others.

Important things we should remember about gamers:

Players are stars of a game – they have a role to play. They usually have lots of self-confidence, and they also like to be heroes. (As librarians, we can help them find their places and develop their skills.)

There is always a solution – you just have to find it. (Kind of like online searching for information, huh?)

Failure is part of success – you learn from it. (So while we older folks may want to get right to what we want, those under the age thirty-five don’t mind making lots of false starts and bumbling around making mistakes on the way.)

Literacy practices – we tend to think kids should be reading, not playing video games, but lots of gaming activities involve printed texts. These are not only within the games themselves, but also reside on fan sites, chat rooms, manuals, and bulletin boards.

Games involve collaborative problem solving. Gamers work with others in meaningful activities. (Well, activities that are meaningful to them, anyway.)

Different types of learning take place during games and there are implications for online information flow. There are apprenticeships; community renewal; decentralized authority; and enculturation into values.

Librarians can use these principles! Gamers want to be heroes; we should give them a chance to be (to find their way to the information they want). Keep in mind the simple rules of gamers:

The world is logical and human-friendly.

It is natural to move quickly between tasks.

Don’t be a Level Boss, be a Strategy Guide.

Tap the gamer’s instinct for heroism – help them solve problems.

Collaboration is important; make it easy for them to work together.

Gamers are flexible and used to change.

They are also risk-takers and don’t mind taking chances and making mistakes.

There are different types of gamers: the "I’ll solve it myself" type that doesn’t want help; the one who asks friends for help or uses the strategy guide; and others who are in the middle.

Gamers don’t mind working with those from other generations – after all, as the cartoon says, "on the internet no one knows you’re a dog!"