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Rethinking the Library Game:Creating an Alternative Reality with Social Media

Jason J. BattlesValerie D. GlennLindley C. Shedd

The University of Alabama

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Libraries and Gaming

• Gaming in Libraries• Wii, DDR, Rock Band, board games

• Libraries in Games• Second Life

• Library Games• General focus on information literacy

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Libraries and Gaming

• Why create a library game?• Promote information literacy• Highlight library resources• Engage users

• Don’t we need a programmer?• No. You just need creative staff members,

clear game objectives, and web skills.

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Learning Objectives of the Game

• Highlight resources and collections• Special Collections• Electronic Journals• Online Course Reserves

• Initiate students on how to access and search these resources

• Encourage critical thinking of participants

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What Will Engage Students?

• “Academic Games Are No Fun”• http://games.slashdot.org/games/

07/12/05/130233.shtml

• Games they play• Halo and Call of Duty• MMOGs like World of Warcraft• Guitar Hero and Rock Band

• Online sites they use• Facebook• YouTube• Twitter

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Finding the Right Game Format

• Libraries cannot directly compete with most commercial games

• Determine your available resources• Financial• Human

• Incorporate popular social media sites to engage students where they are

• Develop manageable game objectives and a strong concept to keep players

Alternate Reality Games (ARG)

• Web-based and story-driven design

• Disguises the fact that it is a game at all

• No defined rules

• Runs over a fixed period of time

• Player reveals the plot and goals through interacting with game components

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Alternate Reality Games (ARG)

• http://www.argn.com• This is Not a Game by Dave Szulborski

• Internet-based and story driven• Examples:

• http://www.massivedynamic.com/• http://www.marevitreum.com/• http://www.tracesofhope.com/

• Indiana University’s ARG work• http://www.argn.com/2008/09/

indiana_university_combats_the_freshman_fifteen_with_skeleton_chase/

Why an ARG?

• Non-traditional approach that is more engaging for players

• Does not require large budgets or a team of programmers

• Social media sites are natural locations for game components

• ARGs have been successful in marketing movies, television shows, and video games

• Why not libraries?

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Our Game - Project Velius

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Considerations in Building our ARG

• Development directed by diverse team of library personnel with limited resources• No additional funding• No team of programmers• Limited student work allotment

• Game must be completely online

• Game should be accurate representation of how library resources are accessed and used

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Building an ARG

• Story creation is the most important element of ARGs, but it is also the most difficult

• The story plays out like a screenplay

• The creation of game assets is dependent on the creation of the storyline

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Project Velius Storyline

• Developed over several months by three committee members

• Main character and her boyfriend work at a biotech company

• He goes missing

• She uses clues found in library resources and social media venues to find him

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Our Game – Project Velius

• http://www.projectvelius.com

• Library Resources• Unique historical collection• Electronic journal article• Online course reserves

• Social Media Components

• Web sites

Social Media Components

• Facebook group• Served as the hub of the game• Facilitated player interaction

• Twitter accounts

• YouTube video

• WordPress blogs

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJwnsWaBpCc

Web Sites

• www.projectvelius.com• Main gateway for the game

• www.yenosresearch.com• Fake biotech corporation involved in a

questionable research program

• www.knowgarden.org • Student homework site that was only

discoverable through game clues

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Running the Game

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Running the Game

• Ran over a six week period from September 17 to October 22, 2009

• Blogs and Twitter were the main tools used for character interaction

• Members of the development group took on the roles of the characters

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Running the Game - Continued

• These puppeteers made blog posts and tweets timed by a detailed script

• They also built the story’s alternate reality through backdated blog entries

• One person served as a game master to help players via the Facebook group

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Marketing

• No carrot

• Flyers, news ad, web ad

• Bibliographic Instruction sessions

• Freshman compass courses

• English 101

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Assessment

• Web stats• Google Analytics• WordPress

• Survey of players

• End of game event

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Lessons Learned

• Start with a bang!

• Keep them interested• Resist controlling the tempo or gating

player progression• Consider the length of the game

• Build something you can easily replicate

• Find collaborations to help with aspects of the game that are not your strength

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Lessons Learned - Continued

• Understand the limitations and use policies of any social media tools you intend to employ

• Think about the need to track players

• Create buy-in among the campus community

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Next Steps

• Follow advancements in technology, gaming, and instruction

• Continue to examine what motivates players in games

• Find ways to include students in the creation and development

• Consider external collaborations

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Contact Information

Jason J. Battlesjjbattles@ua.edu

Valerie Glennvglenn@ua.edu

Lindley Sheddlcshedd@ua.edu