Conducting a reference interview that results in locating the information that a patron wants can be difficult. In many instances, service desks are staffed with individuals who are not professional librarians. Teaching them how to conduct an effective reference interview is time-consuming. Scheduling this training becomes frustrating, and sometimes seems impossible due to time constraints and the demands of the workload.

In the Belk Library at Appalachian State University, Boon, NC, student worker and staff training is an ongoing task. A need to improve reference service in the Instructional Materials Center (IMC), a model K-12 library, led to collaboration between the E-Learning Librarian, Scott Rice, and the Instructional Materials Center Coordinator, Margaret Gregor. After researching a variety of training options, we decided to create a simulation game, The Library Adventure Game (www.library.appstate.edu/elearn/libraryadventure/).

Game description

The Library Adventure Game is a web-based simulation that asks the player to complete eight adventures. In each scenario, the player must answer a patron’s query. The adventures are based on questions commonly asked by education students in the Instructional Materials Center. For example, the patron might ask for assistance in locating textbooks for a particular grade level, or identifying a specific genre of children’s literature. Once the player is presented with the question, two to four choices are presented. The player is asked to select the best response to help the patron.

For example, in the game scenario “On the Reading Level,” the patron asks for help in finding the reading level of a book. The player is given four choices: telling the patron to figure it out for himself, showing the individual the library databases, looking on the library’s website for the answer, or looking on Amazon. The choice the player selects will lead to a response. If the library databases are selected, the patron will ask for help again. The player then gets more choices to select. Eventually, the series of choices will lead to a satisfied or a frustrated patron. Once the player reaches the resolution of the adventure, he is presented with a grade and feedback on performance. When the game has been completed, the player receives a report card showing a grade for each adventure. It is printed out and given to a supervisor as an indication that the training has been completed.

Does it work?

We verified that the game is an effective way to provide staff training by giving pre- and post-tests. The results of the tests indicated that staff and student workers were more likely to get the correct answer after they played the game. Only about 25 percent of individuals without training in responding to reference questions would correctly answer a pre-test question. After playing the game, 80-90 percent of respondents taking the post-test would choose the best response. In the course of playing the game, students and staff members were provided with reference interview strategies that they could apply across the board when assisting patrons. After playing the game, participants indicated that they felt more comfortable fielding questions about the IMC and were more successful in their efforts to assist patrons. One student who played the game stated, “This is good training. I had no idea that so much material could be found in the IMC. Every desk worker should learn these skills.”

The game format appeals to students and staff members. The use of screencasts in the game provides instruction by showing, rather than explaining. Adobe Captivate was used to produce Flash files (.swf) that were movies showing tasks such as locating a book in the catalog or finding information in a library database. The player had the opportunity to see how to do something online, rather than just read about it or hear a description. When creating the game, we took care to strike a balance between showing or telling how to do something and getting players to figure it out on their own. The strength of a simulation game as a teaching tool is that players can keep trying until they determine the correct response.

Make your own game

One of the guiding principles behind the project was to make The Library Adventure Game platform available for librarians and teachers to use to develop their own game. Another principle was the desire to eliminate the lack of technical skills as a hurdle to creating a game. Making unique versions of the game is easy because all the files, sounds, pictures, scripts, and instructions are available for download at library.appstate.edu/elearn/libraryadventure/mylibgame.html.

The game was written in JavaScript and XML because JavaScript is understood by almost all web browsers and does not require any special permission to be run. Also, XML is fairly easy to understand, and the scripts are easy to update and modify. Scott created an application called the XML Generator which enables users to fill in the pictures, sounds, and dialogue and let the Generator create the XML for the scripts.

Students in Scott’s class, “Film Worlds, Game Worlds,” experimented with the game platform to test the ease of game creation. As their final project, groups of students were asked to take the Library Adventure platform and make their own games. Some of them had very few technical skills, but all the groups were able to produce playable games. The only drawback to their games was their heavy reliance on the use of zombies as a plot point.

How do I make my own game?

The basic parts of the game are the scripts in XML, the media files (sounds, images, and Flash animations), one game file, and one configuration file. The game file does not need to be changed at all. The XML Generator application will generate the XML files and the configuration file. The game creator fills in the blanks and clicks a button.

The sound and image files are available for use in your game creation. If you decide not to use Flash in the way that we did, that will not be a problem. All of the games the students created were technically accurate, but they varied in the quality of the look and sounds they were able to produce. Writing the scripts is the most challenging part of the process, and the quality of the scripts made the biggest difference in the games. The creation of a good script takes a lot of thought, time, and effort. One game had rudimentary stick-figure graphics produced using Microsoft Paint, yet it was one of the most fun to play because its creators had an excellent script. Similarly, the success of your game will depend upon the quality of your script.

Conclusion

The goal of creating The Library Adventure Game was to use technology to teach reference skills in an engaging way, and we were pleased with the success of our efforts. A librarian who played the game remarked. “I wasn’t entirely convinced that a game platform would add anything significant to training for the IMC. However, after going through the game, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed with this approach. I found the adventures to be engaging, cheeky (in the best sense), and fun, and I actually learned something new.” Developing a game using this platform is a low-cost way to provide new training tools for staff and student workers. We invite experimentation with the game platform and encourage feedback from players and game creators.

Scott Rice (ricese@appstate.edu) is E-Learning Librarian and Margaret Gregor (gregormn@appstate.edu)is Instructional Materials Center Coordinator, Belk Library and Information Commons, Appalachian State University, Boone, NC.

Online Training Games

I’ll Get It (a reference game produced by Carnegie Mellon) eps.library.cmu.edu/rooms/documents/libraries-and-collections/Libraries/etc/game2/game2.swf

The Information Literacy Game (A web-based board game that can be adapted for your own use) www.library.appstate.edu/elearn/game/

Order in the Library (a game using the Dewey Decimal System and the alphabet to sort, shelve, and re-order books) users.ece.utexas.edu/~valmstrum/s2s/utopia/library4/src/library4.html

Within Range (an LC shelving game produced by Carnegie Mellon) eps.library.cmu.edu/rooms/documents/libraries-and-collec tions/Libraries/etc/game1/game1.swf