Professor Librarians (Amy Vecchione and Margaret Mellinger) at two campuses talk about how they used a mobile friendly, game based application to engage students with library research.
1. Beyond Foursquare Library Treks with SCVNGR Amy Vecchione Assistant Professor/Librarian Boise State University @librarythinking amyvecchione@boisestate.edu Margaret Mellinger Associate Professor/Librarian Oregon State University @ultravioletbat margaret.mellinger@oregonstate.edu
22. Margaret Mellinger Associate Professor/Librarian Oregon State University @ultravioletbat margaret.mellinger@oregonstate.edu Amy Vecchione Assistant Professor/Librarian Boise State University @librarythinking amyvecchione@boisestate.edu
23. Works Cited Zickuhr, Kathryn and Aaron Smith. 11/4/2010. 4% of online Americans use location-based Services. Pew Internet & American Life Report. http://pewinternet.org/Reports/2010/Location-based-services.aspx
Notes de l'éditeur
Amy
MargaretTaking Facebook out of the mix, it’s easier to see the distribution of users across the most highly used location-based services. What’s more difficult to compare is “registered users” vs. “active users.” Foursquare has the greatest penetration at this time. But this may this may change quickly… Because popular sites as Twitter & Facebook now give users the ability to share one’s location, there is a blurring of the lines between the so-called status-updating services and location-based services. The Pew report we referenced says that this blurring makes it “increasingly difficult for survey respondents to always pinpoint exactly what sort of software they are using—especially on their mobile devices.”
Amy
Amy and Margarethttp://www.scribd.com/doc/48978436/Location-based-tools-comparison
MargaretSCVNGR is a SCVNGR continues the tradition of vowel-dropping Web.2.0 services. [To play any trek via SMS, simply take that treks keyword (each trek has a unique keyword) and send it as a text message to 728647 (SCVNGR). This will work for any phone on any carrier in the United States and Canada. ]
MargaretSCVGNR is a game about going places, doing challenges and earning points. The app is free and users can download it for iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Android. A Blackberry app is in development.You can also play via SMS.
MargaretThere are three types of things you can build on SCVNGR for users to do. Challenges are quick fun to do at places. Rewards are things users can unlock by doing challenges at places. Treks connect places and challenges into themed paths. To build these things on SCVNGR, you need a builder account. So SCVNGR is part game for our students and part gaming platform where we can actually build challenges for users to help them learn about the library.
MargaretWhen users open their SCVNGR app at a location, they will see what kinds of things there are do to there. Users can simply check in as you do on Foursquare, do a social check in with another person by bumping phones together , make comments about a location, and take photos to share. If someone has built challenges or set up a trek, those will show up as things to do, as well. If a user gains enough points playing SCVNGR, they will earn the ability to create challenges of their own.
MargaretInternational Students bring a wealth of experience to our campuses, but that experience does not always include using US libraries. While they figure things out quite quickly, we thought it would be friendly and fun to develop a trek for them to learn more about the library.
MargaretInternational students love to study in the Valley Library. In fact, one of our librarians calls the library “the most culturally diverse place on campus.” While students love studying here, they are not fully aware of all the services in the library. SCVNGR allows them to explore the library in groups and share what they find with each other.
MargaretAnother reason we chose to work with international students is that they are purchasing new phones after they arrive in the US. Most of these phones are smart phones. So, we have an audience with smart phones, who love to do fun things in groups, and have a need for information about the library. We will be testing SCVNGR with the students at the beginning of April, promoting it through their own calendar and communication channels.
We will have t-shirts as rewards for the students, and we’ll work with the coffee shop to get them a free cup of coffee or tea. The rewards are set up within SCVNGR and students will show their phones to staff to collect the t=shirt or the certificate for a drink.
MargaretTo summarize… SCVNGR is great for new and international students because they own the devices they need to access the trek, they can learn and share tips as a group and they can have fun doing it.
Amy
AmyThe questions I wanted to ask would direct students around the library to get familiar with the library in a non-traditional way. We have a paper scavenger hunt that students would take every semester, but I wanted to create something that used tools that they were already using. The students really enjoyed using the SCVNGR hunt I created via text, and every student was excited to be able to use it.
Amy
AmyThen, I offered students two options for a final assignment in Fall, one option being to redesign the SCVNGR hunt, which they overwhelmingly chose. Students had to think about the library like an instructor, or like I would, and chose quiz questions based on what they thought students needed to know the most. The most successful quiz was to determine their hardest class for the semester, let’s say it is Military Science, and then introduce themselves to the liaison for that subject. Students created this trek as part of their final assignment for class.