The Sims 4 + a Master of Library and Information Science = <3

Posted October 16, 2026 by Sofia Azuara

Perhaps it may be too hard of a sell to convince you that the video game The Sims 4 and a Master degree in Library and Information Sciences are related. But that is exactly what my group partners and I are attempting to do in my “Technology for Information Professionals” SLIS-488 class. This course is a requirement for all students pursuing a MLIS degree at Simmons. Over the course of the semester we have so far worked with HTML and CSS, but before we move onto dealing with Python we’ve been tasked with teaching ourselves a new technology-based skill and providing our classmates with a tutorial. 

Though I’ve met plenty of people during my time in the program who come from the tech world or are in the Information Science and Technology concentration, I myself have never delved into coding. To say the least, I was a bit intimidated by the task. My two other group members seemed to be coming into the project with the same level of knowledge which was some sort of reassurance. The three of us put our heads together to try and come up with a suitable project. 

The topic of The Sims 4 was brought into the conversation as we searched for something familiar to grasp onto. Two of us own the game ourselves and we had all spent hours watching other people play the game online. For those who don’t know, The Sims allows players to customize characters, or “Sim”, and simulate a life for them through social interactions, career choices, and home construction. Though it started as a half-joke suggestion the more we spoke about it, the more of a good idea it seemed. We decided we would work on a tutorial on how to modify the game through Python. 

Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve been following tutorials and finagling with code. The end goal for the project is to modify the game code enough to allow us to create a “Librarian” careerpath. The question remains though, how does this all relate to libraries, archives, or museums? In a broad sense, many public libraries host coding classes through the utilization of other common video games such as Minecraft Education. Additionally, this project relates to another required LIS course as well, SLIS-415 “Information Organization”, where we learn about encoding using XML schemas. In game modifying, it is important to use what is called an XML injector. We see this work as a way to hone skills that may be important in the future!