2012 ALA Annual
Alternate Reality, Social Media, and
Library Game Making
Jason J. Battles
The University of Alabama
4/13/2015
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.
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What Will Engage Your Users?
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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
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Alternate Reality Games (ARG)
• http://www.argn.com
• This is Not a Game by Dave Szulborski
Components
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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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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
• Game must be completely online
• Game should be accurate representation
of how library resources are accessed
and used
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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 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
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Web Sites
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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
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Marketing
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No carrot
Flyers, news ad, web ad
Bibliographic Instruction sessions
Freshman courses
Assessment
• Web Stats
• Surveys
• End game event
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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
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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
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Contact Information
Jason J. Battles
jjbattles@ua.edu
4/13/2015