Collection Building

Purpose – This article aims to discuss the relevance of building video game collections in academia to support research and learning on campus and to propose useful criteria for building video game collections in academic libraries.

Design/methodology/approach – The authors examined collection development policies of selected academic libraries as well as research discussing the cultural, historical, and educational value of video games. The authors also examined video game playback devices, games and their packaging, and popular game web sites.

Findings – The authors outline selection considerations for developing video game collections and propose the following criteria for selecting games: physical characteristics, teaching and learning principles present in the games, subject matter and content, and the cultural and historical value of a game.

Originality/value – Establishing video games in libraries is not a new topic, but most discussions have been focused on public libraries or the entertainment value of video games in academic libraries. This article focuses on games as serious objects of study in academia and provides best practices for video games collections development.