Are you looking to break up long study sessions with a fun and engaging activity? Tabletop games offer unique ways to build connections, encourage creativity, and experience a sense of joy and play during your next library visit.
Taking some time to engage in play can benefit both academic and creative success. It provides a necessary break from focused learning that encourages teamwork and social interaction and inspires creative thinking. Relaxing and enjoying a downtime activity can also boost mood and motivation, which are essential for sustained academic engagement. Tabletop games offer a unique opportunity to take a break from screens while still being entertained, which is becoming increasingly rare in our digital world.
Did you know the Libraries has a collection of more than 70 tabletop games?
An update to our library records for tabletop games that will make it easier for you to search for, explore, and select games in our collection using the Libraries’ discovery tool. Records for tabletop games will now clearly display the term “Tabletop Game" as the Material Type in the search results and contain searchable genre terms that describe the mechanics and themes of each game.
You can now find tabletop games with your favorite gameplay mechanics and themes by searching for the genre terms found in the records of games that they already enjoy. For instance, if you enjoy the game Terraforming Mars, you can search the terms “Economic games” and “Territory building games” to find other games that have players gathering and trading resources or establishing control over an area. Or if you enjoy science fiction, fantasy, or horror themed entertainment, you can search for “Science fiction games,” “Fantasy games,” or “Horror games” to find games with those themes. Including these genre terms in our records makes it easier for users to find new games according to their desired criteria.
When searching your preferred game genre themes in the Advanced Search or Quick Search, remember to use the filter Material Type > Tabletop Games.
The genre terms come from a controlled list of tabletop game terminology curated by librarians at the University of North Texas Libraries. Most of the terms are derived from the community-driven, online database of tabletop games, BoardGameGeek.com, which also offers reviews, play-aids, images, and other tabletop game related content.
This update to our tabletop games records reflects the library’s commitment to improving user access and the discoverability of these games and other library resources. Our goal with this update is to make finding and borrowing tabletop games as engaging and straightforward as possible. By organizing the collection of games with clear, searchable terms, we are helping users find the games that suit their interests quickly. Spend less time searching and more time building connections and inspiring creativity with your new favorite tabletop games.
Contributed by Broghan White, assistant professor, Cataloging and Metadata Librarian, University Libraries