This document discusses how libraries can use gamification techniques to improve patron engagement and experience. It describes common elements of games like goals, rules and feedback. Libraries can gamify experiences through scavenger hunts, alternate reality games and leaderboards to track stats. The ultimate goal is to create opportunities for "Epic Wins", described as unexpected victories that people achieve through discovering new abilities. Examples provided include libraries that implemented scavenger hunts, an alternate reality game and a persistent online game world for patrons.
24. Once upon a parsec, there lived a
Pixie. Her name was Dulcinea.
She was the shiniest Library worker
in the all the ‘verse. One day, while
jump-roping through the Labyrinth,
She met Darmok and Jilahd.
It was awkward. The end.
30. QR code scavenger hunt generator from
Classtools.net
(Classtools.net, n.d.)
31. Port Angeles Library / Albertsons
scavenger hunt
(North Olympic Library System, n.d.)
32. “I think it’s an interesting, cool idea, and I like the link between a
grocery store and early literacy… I think in general,
the more present libraries can be in people’s everyday life
(like the grocery store), even if it’s just a sign advertising the
program is also a good thing, and might have long-term dividends
in terms of getting the library ‘out there’. ”
(Knight, J., personal conversation, July 18th, 2004)
42. “It was kind of unusual, because this fake character was
starting to develop relationships with the players. Nothing
serious, but I started to know a little about their lives, how
busy they were, where they worked … roughly what age
they were, etc. That couldn’t have happened if I scripted
everything ahead of time and let the software handle it.”
(A. Vanek, personal communication, August 7th, 2014)
45. “We had around 50 participants, but I believe such a thing is more
than just patron counts. When our library commission, Friends
group, foundation and others heard about the ARG the response
was one of pleasant surprise and excitement because of its
innovation and the possibility of bringing in people wouldn’t
normally come to the library. I can tell you that many people
started seeing the library in a whole different way…”
46. “… What other library programs have this kind of outcome?
In that sense, they are ‘converts’ to the idea that the library
is not a passive setting where they come to simply consume
information, but participants in how we provide programming
and content.”
(E. Magbanua, personal communication, August 7th, 2014)
48. Epic Win:
• An unexpected victory from an underdog
• Something fantastic that has worked out unbelievably well
• The greatest possible way for man to succeed at anything
(from The Urban Dictionary, as cited in McGonigal, 2011)
49. Characteristics of Epic Wins:
• Discovering abilities we didn’t know we had
• Upsetting other people’s expectations of what’s possible
• Inventing new positive outcomes we hadn’t even imagined before
(McGonigal, 2011)