Library Arcade from Carnegie Mellon University Libraries
ALA 2007 Gaming Symposium "Gaming in Academic Libraries"
1. Gaming in Academic Libraries: The Why and How Lori O. Critz, Georgia Institute of Technology Asst. Dept. Head – Information Services Department Instruction Coordinator Web Content Coordinator Georgia Tech Library & Information Center [email_address] Lynn Sutton, Wake Forest University Director, Z. Smith Reynolds Library Wake Forest University [email_address] Giz Womack, Wake Forest University Manager of Technology Training-Z. Smith Reynolds Library Wake Forest University [email_address] July 23 rd , 2007 ALA Gaming Symposium Chicago
Using the “Clickers” Polling opens when green light appears in top right of PowerPoint slide Green Light on controller indicates vote has successfully been cast Orange Light on controller indicates vote not yet registered Only one vote is registered per question per controller
This slide gives some context about my Library. Wake Forest University is a med sized univ in W-S, NC. Ranked in top 30 USN with emphasis on strong liberal arts, fairly conservative, with Baptist heritage (hence the Deacon). When I announced at Exec Council mtg that Lib would be hosting a video game night, the President of the Univ said “you’re going to do what???” This was my rationale:
WF: gaming events mostly marketing technique. First heard about gaming in libraries, said, “let’s do that.” Turned to Giz, “make it happen,” rest is history. First event Sept 05, published in C&RL News in March 2006, improvised from there. (Giz will talk about details) Saw as a way to reach out to students who don’t normally come into library for orientation, tours, classes, maybe until Wake the Library (24x7 for finals). Sept event for new students who haven’t found social scene yet or don’t fit in (1 st yr men are loneliest on campus) Support for innovation & creativity on part of staff and students. Giz will tell of partnership with IS & Res Tech Advisors. 1 st time we had food throughout library, then WtL, now all time. Botton line: we want to stay relevant with our users, that ZSR is open, welcoming, filled with fun, knowledgeable, helpful staff. Finally: it’s darn fun
Sympos filled with presentations on aspects of gaming other than marketing. Pervasive in society: >$12 billion in sales; ave age 33; 8.5 mill play W o Wrcrft Gaming was social networking before there were other kinds of social networking. On game nights, form relationships with ppl in other room, across campus, in future, challenge other ACC schools in NC. Fascinated by gaming as complex learning theory. Keynoter this am, expert. Facilitates media literacy, sophisticated language & interpretation skills; build problem solving skills, demon value of trial/error, remove fear of failure, use as means of learning, build on success, multiple paths to victory. Library instruction: next frontier (we haven’t gone there yet), would like to see some at this sympos that actually work, early models had a ways to go. Best line heard at ACRL; wouldn’t it be great if library opacs were as fun to navigate as a game??? (Transition to Giz)
Here is the story. Our first game night was in September 2005, well attended, but limited to Madden on the PS2 and Halo2 on the Xbox. This was done primarily out of concern that we might be overwhelmed and so we needed to control the event. Students brought their own games. We also had students sign up in advance so we would know what kind of numbers to expect (and how many screens and projectors to set up!) Used the Library’s 6 story atrium as the venue (seen in pics in Lynn’s slides) Our Feb 2006 tournament was smaller, due to limitations of a tournament. Double elimination, but as people lost, many left. This event held on a Friday afternoon in a large 24 study room near the entrance to the Library Our September 2006 open game night was a bit of a bust Poorly attended, in competition with beautiful weather and many other competing events Also the event was a victim of a “tired” gaming market that was waiting for the PS3 and the Wii to hit Our Feb 2007 open game night (held instead of a tournament) was a HUGE hit! We opened it up to all types of game platforms including the Wii We also opened it to all kinds of games, like DDR, Guitar Hero and Wii Sports Bigger, distributed marketing effort seemed to help. It takes a WIDE variety of marketing to attract students to these events. I’ll talk about the marketing more in just a moment. Having students register for a seat is a great idea! We create a matrix/grid that allows us to know how many projectors and screens to set up and match game consoles to gamers Makes atrium setup easier and cruise directing more efficient. We also set up a couple of extra stations just in case as backups.
The Tech Team volunteers to work the event The Resident Technology Advisors who offer computer support in the residence halls (employed by IS) provide good insight into student gaming behaviors AND they work the event. The projectors, part of our value added proposition (compared to gaming in the residence hall) are donated by IS and are at the end of their useful life. We rented screens the first time, then bought them AND learned that blackout curtain lining from the fabric store also works. IS not only teams with us to have the RTAs work the event, but also pay for the snacks, candy, sodas and water. Many concerns about “asset management” Painter’s tape goes a long way in keeping track of games, consoles and controllers.
E-Mail E-Mail to the RTAs (to send on to the students on their hall) E-Mail to students who had attended my training classes E-Mail to the ZSR Staff E-Mail to previous attendees E-Mail to RAs Calendars ZSR Web Calendar WFU Web Calendar Window on Wake Forest (staff and outside groups) Web The Student ZSR Events Flyers Residence Halls Academic Buildings ZSR Library Word of Mouth Talking to Students Talking to ZSR Staff Newspaper WFU Old Gold and Black -Asked for Calendar posting -Asked for Article Candy Suckers with note on stick -In ZSR -In Tribble Hall Viral Marketing YouTube Video AND!! Sandwich board in front of ZSR AND Poster in Benson Student Center!! Even contacted the News Bureau in hopes of getting a story!!
First Open Game Night in Fall 2005 $425 (Had to rent screens, buy cables) Once we got going, we stocked a Rubbermaid container with the tools of the trade! First Tournament in Spring 2006 $172 Second Open Game Night in Fall 2006 $167 Third Open Game Night in Spring 2007 $173
How much do you spend on your gaming events? We do our gaming events very economically. IS contributes $50 for snacks, candy, sodas and water These events can be a bargain and still be a success as well!
Participants were surveyed in March of 2006 and March of 2007 Participants were surveyed using Zoomerang. 10 responses in 2006, 9 responses in 2007. Small sample size. 88% prefer Fridays in 2006, 78% in 2007. A three-hour event was preferred in 2006. That grew to 3-5 hours in the 2007 survey. Time preferred was split in 2006, in 2007 8pm-12midnight got 89% of the vote. 100% did not mind bringing their own gaming equipment in 2006, only 78% did not ming in 2007. Equal preference given to both open game nights and tournaments. The Wii is the hot gaming platform now. We also did these event “on the cheap” and it worked well! For this Fall, we are considering a partnership with the local public library and getting involved with a tournament they are hosting. At the same time we will have an open game afternoon/evening