Collection Development

This collection is focused on the use, creation, and impact of gaming. Tabletop games are collected that support student, faculty, and staff interest in recreation and research, which includes the study of mass media and popular culture, creative and educational game development, and student life.

Criteria for purchase include:

• Games that support curriculum and collection goals
• Top-rated or high popular interest games
• Games that are historically relevant to game history
• Games that push design boundaries

Roleplaying Guides

The Library offers role-playing handbooks and accessories such as dice, figurines, and battle mats to our patrons. 

Tarot Cards

Faculty requests and student interest have led to the creation of a small collection of Tarot cards housed with the game collection.

Tabletop Game Processing

Tabletop games present a different challenge but generally are not that difficult to prepare for circulation. The UNT Library has presented and published on a study conducted to determine best practices for circulating a tabletop game collection. These studies were used to guide the extent of our processing.

Don't just Roll the Dice: Simple Solutions for Circulating Game Collections Effectively (presentation) (article)

Our processing includes:

• Cards sleeved
• Cloth corners on outer box corners
• A single barcode on the outside of the box
• Pieces bagged
• Box banded with silicon bands
• After processing games are weighed and a note is added to the item record with the weight. Our scale is a Tree - HRB 10001.

 

 

Cloth Corner Procedure

Supplies Rounded corner punch tool ​ PVA glue​ Cutting mat​ Box cutter / Exacto knife​ Ruler​ Book binding cloth tape​
Cutting Corners Use a piece of cloth that is 12” long and 1” above top of board game. Try to match color of cloth with board game being cornered.​ Cut pieces are 3 inches wide / about the height of box plus 1" tall​ Measure down 1-1/2” in the center and cut to that point​ Fold in half and cut the top two and bottom non-fold corner​ Use the cornerer on 3 sides of the cut cloth​
Glue the cloth down Add glue to the cloth corner. (Put the paint brush into water between uses.) PVA glue allows time to get the corner to move until it sets. Wipe off any excess glue with a damp cloth. Smooth the edges a few times as the glue dries.