A survey of gameplay genres for video games in OCLC MARC records

As video games have become more prevalent in library collections, catalogers have developed methods of description for this medium. One of its most unique features among audiovisual forms is its gameplay. Gameplay genres serve a vital role as access points for the discovery and differentiation of video games. This article surveys MARC bibliographic records from OCLC WorldCat in order to understand the methods and vocabularies being used to represent gameplay genres in libraries and discusses the strengths and possible gaps that they may cause in creating access points for users searching for these materials.