Library patrons and online games

[Donald Barclay]

Banning game playing is a tough issue because you are going to make somebody
unhappy no matter which way you play it. If you are going to prevent people
from playing games on library computers, ask yourself the following questions:

1. Is the line between what is a game and what is not a game absolutely clear?

2. If we ban game playing, are there other equally frivolous computer
activities that we will need to ban as well?

3. If all the seats in the library were full, would we ask someone who was
working a crossword puzzle to get up so that someone else could read a book?

OK, so my take on this is obvious. If you limit use of computers by time,
then it's nobody's business what a patron does with their time on the
computer. And just because someone is using a research tool doesn't mean
that they are doing something worthwhile--you can waste time playing with an
online catalog or database just as surely as you can waste time playing a game.

Finally, don't loose sight of the real problem. The problem is not that
someone is playing a computer game, the problem is that (for whatever
reason) the library doesn't have enough computers to serve all its patrons
all the time. Until that glorious day when there are enough computers to go
around, everyone is going to have to share. 





At 12:20 PM 7/26/98 -0700, Scrynkar at aol.com wrote:
>    As a new member I am not sure if this question has been discussed before
>but this problem has just came up in our library.  We have been instructed  to
>inform patrons who chose to use the computer for online games that this is not
>what the internet service is for and that the internet computers are to be
>used for research. (The library has in place a time limit on the computer
>use).  I would be interested in learning how other libraries have dwelt with
>this issue and what policies, if any, have been set regarding games played on
>the internet
>                                              
>                                                               Susan Rynkar
>
>
Donald A. Barclay                          always the beautiful answer
Houston Academy of Medicine-               who asks the more beautiful question
Texas Medical Center Library                        --e.e. cummings
donaldb at library.tmc.edu