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Alternate Reality, Social Media, and Library Game Making

2012 AL A Annual. Alternate Reality, Social Media, and Library Game Making. Jason J. Battles The University of Alabama. Libraries and Gaming. Why create a library game? NMC Horizon Report 2012 Game-Based Learning Time to adoption: 2-3 years Promote information literacy

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Alternate Reality, Social Media, and Library Game Making

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  1. 2012 ALA Annual Alternate Reality, Social Media, and Library Game Making Jason J. Battles The University of Alabama

  2. Libraries and Gaming • Why create a library game? • NMC Horizon Report 2012 • Game-Based Learning • Time to adoption: 2-3 years • Promote information literacy • Accessing and searching resources • Highlight library resources • Special collections, electronic journals, etc.

  3. What Will Engage Your Users?

  4. Finding the Right Format • Libraries cannot directly compete with commercial games • Determine your available resources • Incorporate social media sites to engage students where they are • Develop manageable game objectives

  5. Alternate Reality Games (ARG) • http://www.argn.com • This is Not a Game by Dave Szulborski Components • 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

  6. 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?

  7. Our Game - Project Velius

  8. Considerations in Building our ARG • Development directed by diverse team of library personnel with limited resources • No additional funding • No team of programmers • Game must be completely online • Game should be accurate representation of how library resources are accessed and used

  9. 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

  10. Our Game Components • Library Resources • Unique historical collection • Electronic journal article • Online course reserves • Social Media Components • Facebook group • Served as hub of game • Facilitated player interaction • Twitter, YouTube, and WordPress

  11. Web Sites

  12. Running the Game • Blogs and Twitter were the main tools used for character interaction • Members of the development group took on the roles of the characters making 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

  13. Marketing • No carrot • Flyers, news ad, web ad • Bibliographic Instruction sessions • Freshman courses Assessment • Web Stats • Surveys • End game event

  14. Lessons Learned • Start with a strong hook! • Resist gating progress • Build something you can easily replicate • Find collaborations in development and marketing • Think about assessment at the start

  15. Next Steps • Follow advancements in technology, gaming, and instruction • Mobile and social gaming • HTML5 • Horizon Report • Continue to examine what motivates players in games • Find ways to include users in the creation and development process

  16. Contact Information Jason J. Battles jjbattles@ua.edu

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