Alternate Reality, Social Media, and Library Game Making

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?

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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?

9. Our Game - Project Velius

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

14. Web Sites

17. 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

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

20. 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

21. 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

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