IST 605: Tabletop Role-playing Games

While the previous section contained texts with general advice for building a collection of role-playing games, this section presents two texts with more specific information on different avenues and areas of game collection.

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Dungeons and downloads: collecting tabletop fantasy role‐playing games in the age of downloadable PDFs

By Dan Sich

Building a collection of games can be expensive, but it doesn’t have to be. Dan Sich details the streamlined needs of a basic collection, and discusses the variety of ways in which a collection can be built and played on a budget. While this article was written in 2012, much of its advice is still pertinent today. Much of the strength of role-playing games is that they need little more than paper, pencils, and dice, and this guide will keep that list of resources short.

Librarian's guide to games and gamers : from collection development to advisory services

By Michelle Goodridge & Matthew J. Rohweder

The genre of tabletop games goes far beyond role-playing games. For librarians looking to develop a well rounded collection, this up to date guide contains information on card games, board games, miniature wargames, and more, including role-playing games. Beyond collection development, this book also discusses the behavior and incentives behind why users play games, which will be useful for staff moderating a gaming space. With a gaming collection comes ference questions pertaining to games, and this text provides advice for curating a gaming-oriented reference list.

Referencing the Imaginary: An Analysis of Library Collection of Role-Playing Game Materials

By Edward Schneider & Brian Hutchison

This article explores the early history of role-playing games in collection development. The Satanic Panic of the 80's led to a diminished institutional interest in the genre, one that took decades to fully undo. Schneider and Hutchinson take an interesting stance in categorizing RPG books as reference material, a stance that is backed up by the usage of these books as materials to remain within a library space. In addition, the article discusses alternative uses of games as research materials. This is an interesting text for reader's looking for answers as to why their library might not already have a gaming collection.