Dragons in the stacks: an introduction to role-playing games and their value to libraries.

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to introduce the genre of tabletop fantasy role-playing games and provide guidance in building an initial collection. Design/methodology/approach - The first part of the paper is designed to present the development of tabletop fantasy role-playing games in a historiographic model, tracing the history of these games from the 1970s to 2006. The second portion is a bibliographic essay and critique of several noteworthy fantasy role-playing games, including analysis of the settings and systems of each game. Findings - The paper provides a history of the development of fantasy role-playing games and provides guidance on how to start a collection. The study recognizes a lack of academic research on the topic and seeks to provide a brief introduction. Practical implications - The paper provides a clear concise history of role-playing game development and balanced advice for librarians who wish to begin collecting role-playing games. Originality/value - This paper begins to fill the need for academic study of the subject and provides practical advice for collection development librarians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]