Creative Digital Experiments with Collections

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The next seminar in our General Series will be led by Ash Green on 21 April.

Libraries and heritage organisations with a strong focus on collections and curatorship are now using technology to re-work and curate their physical collections in creative and engaging new ways. During this live-only seminar, Ash will showcase a variety of inspiring examples and highlight how online mapping and narrative tools can provide visitors with a new digital route into your collections.

Ash Green is a qualified librarian, with over 20 years’ experience working in public and academic libraries. This includes over 15 years cataloguing, classification, related acquisition experience, and systems work in this area.

They also have extensive experience supporting digital library services offers and resources, including website, social media, and app development and implementation.

Further details and booking: https://beginningcataloguing.teachable.com/p/general-seminar-april

N.B. Subscribers to Beginning Cataloguing Monthly will receive a discount code for this seminar in the next issue, which will be sent out at the end of March. It is free to subscribe to BCM, and we never use your email address for anything other than sending out the newsletter itself.

Event Report: Exploring Digital Classification Games

At the end of 2020 I ran a workshop focused on creating digital classification games as part of Beginning Cataloguing’s online course offer. During the session I showed the participants how they could create a prototype classification game on their Android devices from a template game I had created. I had intended showing iphone users how they could do the same, but I discovered quite close to running the workshop that the app I was using on my Android device wasn’t fully compatible with the iphone version of the same app. However, I’m now looking at converting the app so that iphone users can run it too.

I used Pocket Code for the session. This is a block-based coding tool for Android devices and iphones, that allows you to create games and other mobile apps for free, without having to type in lines of programming text. I designed the prototype game loosely around the retro style video game, Pong. In this instance the player is presented with an image on the screen, and they have to tap on the corresponding Dewey Classification number bouncing around the screen to score a point. I find that interactive activities make learning easier for me. I also like things to be fun. So, that’s why I created the prototype game.

Through the session I showed the participants:

  • How to use Pocket Code.
  • How to run and play the prototype game I created in Pocket Code.
  • How the game programme is structured.
  • How different coloured code blocks allow you to do different things. eg move an image around a screen; test if the phone screen was tapped; add points to a players score, etc.
  • How to adapt the programme to their own library classification scheme and needs.

I highlighted some of the behind-the-scenes coding. But I tried to avoid going into a lot of detail, as I wanted to focus on the key areas they could adapt to create a game that would support classification training within their own library services.

The idea isn’t to replace classification training with simple games, but to help users get to know classification identifiers or numbers in a scheme for a library they use, in a playful way.

At the end of the session I wanted the participants to be able to go away with a few key thoughts:

  • That games are useful in this context.
  • It’s possible to make a prototype game cheaply & quickly. It isn’t overly complicated to create a game like this in Pocket Code, or to develop ideas around using technology as a way to make something interactive that will enable others to develop their understanding of your classification system.
  • You can use a tool like Pocket Code to develop simple games for other parts of your library service training too. eg stock management.

It was fun running the session online. I enjoyed both introducing the concept of a digital library game to the participants, and the discussions it generated during the session. Thanks to everyone who attended, and Anne for her support before and during the session.

Ash Green

2020 Blog Posts by Ash Green

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2020 was a busy and creative time for Ash. As well as helping get Beginning Cataloguing off the ground and running our first online workshop, they collaborated with lots of other people, some of whom they mention in their end-of-year round-up.

Here are some blog posts that Ash wrote or co-wrote last year, which, although completed outside their role as a Beginning Cataloguing Associate, may well be of interest to you:

Steven Dryden and Ash Green (2020). ‘LBTQ+ Lives Online’, UK Web Archive Blog, 31 July, https://blogs.bl.uk/webarchive/2020/07/lgbtq-lives-online-.html.

Steven Dryden and Ash Green (2020). ‘LGBTQ+ Lives Online: Introducing the Lead Curators’, UK Web Archive Blog, 3 November, https://blogs.bl.uk/webarchive/2020/11/lgbtq-lives-online-introducing-the-lead-curators.html.

Steven Dryden and Ash Green (2020). ‘LGBTQ+ Lives Online Web Archive Collection’, UK Web Archive Blog, 25 November, https://blogs.bl.uk/webarchive/2020/11/lgbtq-lives-online-web-archive-collection.html.

Ash Green (2020). ‘Reflections During International Games Week and Transgender Awareness Week’, Digital Scholarship Blog, 13 November, https://blogs.bl.uk/digital-scholarship/2020/11/reflections-during-international-games-week-and-transgender-awareness-week.html.

Ash Green (2020). ‘Winter Folklore in Video Games’, Cresswell Crags Blog, 18 December, https://www.creswell-crags.org.uk/2020/12/18/winter-folklore-in-video-games-a-guest-blog-post-by-ash-green.

You can keep up with Ash’s work outside Beginning Cataloguing by following them on Twitter and / or reading their blog, Ash Green Creates.

Welcoming Ash Green

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Really delighted to be welcoming Ash Green as a Beginning Cataloguing Associate.

Ash is well-known in the library community, both as a librarian and an activist. They’re currently working on their first event, combining their creative and technology skills and interests.

With over twenty years of experience, Ash has worked in Cataloguing, Classification, Acquisitions and, of course, Systems. Recently they have been involved in games development and organising and speaking at conferences on tech issues. They’ve mentored with the International Catrobat Association and have co-authored conference papers focused on the online digital reading experience as part of the Read, Watch, Play and Read With Me networks.

Recently their LGBTQ+ Lives Online web archiving collaboration with The British Library and UK Web Archive was launched. Ash is the CILIP LGBTQ+ Network Steering Group lead for the project.

You can find out more about Ash on their profile page.

Watch this space for announcements of their upcoming projects.

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