Matching resources

University of Michigan Library Card Catalog by dfulmer / CC BY

Yet more cards! Another idea of mine for a card game - matching library resources with their description. I suspect it would be fairly easy to turn this into an online game for individuals rather than groups, with a leaderboard for fastest times - this would be the preferred way of playing the game!

It would need a deck of cards - each resource would have two cards. One with just its name one, the other with a description of it. An example follows:

Google Scholar

I search mainly scholarly resources. You can find me for free online. I am a specialist variation of a popular search engine. Most of the materials I find will only be available as references unless you check your library’s subscription.

 

1) Would need to be played by small groups, preferably 3 or 4 to avoid people getting in each others way, or being excluded.

2) Start a 3 minute timer at the front of the class.

3) Each group has until the timer runs out to find as many matching pairs as they can from the deck in front of them.

4) When the time is up, ask the groups how many pairs they have found.

5) Run through the pairs declared to make sure they really do match!

6) Preferably run 2 rounds of the game.

Alternative: Play like a memory game (either in print or online!) - cards would be laid out face down, with the player turning two over at a time. They would have to remember where cards appeared and match the title with description.

Overview of key points:

Use: Describing types of resources, increasing awareness of them.

Format: Card game (print or online)

Time to play: 3 minutes a round, plus checking. 2 rounds should take 10 minutes.

Players: Up to 4 per group