This document discusses the design and implementation of a game to teach information literacy skills to students at Salem State University. The game was designed for a summer bridge program to reinforce concepts between classes with no preparation time. It uses a team-based, level structure where students investigate topics and gain access to research tools. Key aspects in designing the game included choosing the audience and learning objectives, using themes from the ACRL Framework, devising rules and a scoring system, using open educational resources for materials, and assessing successes and lessons learned. Examples of other library games and resources for creating educational games are also provided.

1. PLAYING FOR
KEEPSG A M E D E S I G N A N D I M P L E M E N T A T I O N F O R L O N G - T E R M L E A R N I N G
C A T H E R I N E F A H E Y , M L I S
S A L E M S T A T E U N I V E R S I T Y
M A R C E L A Y . I S U S T E R , M L I S
M C G I L L U N I V E R S I T Y

2. READY, SET...

3. GAMES AND INFORMATION LITERACY
Learning through games
VS
Games that teach mechanics or test knowledge
(scavenger hunts, library Jeopardy)

4. THE GREAT INFORMATION LITERACY
GAME AT SSU
• Designed for Summer Bridge Academy 2015
○ Program for Students on Conditional Acceptance (6 weeks)
○ Information Literacy Course (1.15 hs a week x 5 weeks) taught by librarians.
• No class prep between classes
• Teams investigate a topic or “mystery” in depth, gaining access to research tools as
they advance levels.

5. CHOOSING YOUR AUDIENCE
• Who is your audience?
• What kind of skills do
they have?
• What is their attention
span?
• What are their needs?

6. SETTING LEARNING OBJECTIVES
• What is the overarching goal?
• What do you expect
participants to learn?
Keep it simple and realistic

7. THE NEW ACRL FRAMEWORK
Six Frames:
• Authority Is Constructed and Contextual
• Information Creation as a Process
• Information Has Value
• Research as Inquiry
• Scholarship as Conversation
• Searching as Strategic Exploration

8. CHOOSING THEMES
• Vehicle for learning skills
• Makes the game interesting
• Stay current
• Look for links with your
institution and/or audience

9. WRITING THE RULES
• Inspiration from casual games (Angry
Birds, Solitaire, Candy Crush)
• Mechanics to reinforce learning, not to
learn game mechanics
o Level based
o Collaborative/Co-operative (player
with player, not player vs. player)
o Harry Potter House Cup Rules for
classroom management

10. DEVISING A SCORING SYSTEM
Inspiration from existing source evaluation
models: CRAAP, SMELL
• Adaptable
• Scalable
• Winnable

11. CHOOSING YOUR MEDIA AND
PREPARING MATERIALS
• Public domain images
o Google Images - Usage Rights filter
o Flickr - Creative Commons filter
o Wikimedia Commons
o https://pixabay.com/
o http://www.publicdomainpictures.net/
o http://search.creativecommons.org/
• MS Publisher is your friend
• Google Docs is also your friend
• Stationery stores

12. ...GO!

13. REACTIONS

14. SCORING
• Using a rubric, students rank sources
o Good sources get more points
• Scoring done by other teams
o Peer assessment
o Student-led learning
o Flipped classroom
• Teams had to be able to justify why their scoring
o Accountability
o Knowledge of materials

15. PRIZES
• DO NOT make it all about the
prizes
• They do not need to be
expensive
• The next level is the reward

16. SUCCESSES
• Game was implemented by three other
librarians
• Game can be easily used in subsequent
years (just change the themes)
• High levels of student engagement
• Ownership over learning
• Serendipitous learning led to valuable
lessons
• Covered the entire curriculum
• Immediate assessment
Oh, I get why
we are doing
this!
I can't use my
cellphone, I'm in
the library class!

17. LESSONS LEARNED
• Playtest. Playtest. Playtest.
• Describe the mystery scenarios more fully
• More focused themes
• Monitor time carefully
• Coordinate rules and prizes with other
librarians

18. BONUS ROUND

19. CREATE YOUR OWN GAME
Planning
• Who are your players?
• What do you want to accomplish?
– What is Winning?
– What are they Learning?
• How much time do you have?
– One-shot class vs. semester?
Constraints:
• No Trivia Games
• Playable with pencil & paper (and library computer)

20. QUESTIONS?
COMMENTS?
CONCERNS?

21. COLLABORATIVE GAMES
• Pandemic
https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/30549/pandemic
• Escape the Room Games
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Real-life_room_escape

22. CASUAL GAMES
• Solitaire/Patience
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patience_(game)
• Candy Crush Saga
http://candycrushsaga.com/

23. CLASSIC LIBRARY GAMES
• Scavenger hunts – e.g. Library Amazing Race
http://www.geneseo.edu/~costello/website/Amazing%20Race_lesson.pdf
• MLA Jeopardy
http://web.arc.losrios.edu/~library/mla_jeopardy.ppt
• The Library Game (gamification of library usage and services)
http://librarygame.co.uk/

24. GAMIFICATION IN LIBRARIES
• Designing Gamification in the Right Way. (2015). Library Technology
Reports, 51(2), 29-35.
• Gamification in Education and Libraries. (2015). Library Technology Reports,
51(2), 20-28.
• Walsh, A.(2014). The potential for using gamification in academic libraries
in order to increase student engagement and achievement. Nordic Journal
of Information Literacy in Higher Education 6(1): 39-51.

25. GAMES IN EDUCATION
• Faiella, F., & Ricciardi, M. (2015). Gamification and learning A review of
issues and research. Journal Of E-Learning & Knowledge Society, 11(3), 13-
21.
• Holmes, J. B., & Gee, E. R. (2016). A framework for understanding game-
based teaching and learning. On The Horizon, 24(1), 1-16.
doi:10.1108/OTH-11-2015-0069

26. THANK YOU!
C A T H E R I N E F A H E Y
C F A H E Y @ S A L E M S T A T E . E D U
M A R C E L A Y . I S U S T E R
M A R C E L A . I S U S T E R @ M C G I L L . C A