Page 163 - AC/E Digital Culture Annual Report

The game took place one night when players aged 18 and over followed clues to hunt trea- sures such as the copy of the American Declara- tion of Independence and the Gutenberg Library. Equipped with laptops and smartphones, they explored kilometres of stacks looking for certain objects. The more than 500 players then wrote essays about their experience, which were put together to produce a collaborative work that was added to the library’s collection.
This was the reward which, according to Mc- Gonigal, established a connection between the participants and between them and the library, bound together by their reflection on the future. The presentation video provides a testimony of the experience.181
A second interesting example is Conquest of the Realm.182 In this case we go from a public library to a school to examine an activity that explores new ways of involving students and helping them develop the skills needed to get on in the world in the twenty-first century. The game Conquest of the Realm poses to students a num- ber of challenges that require critical thought, collaborating with other classmates, interacting with the teachers and creative writing.
The creators were O’Neill Middle School in Downers Grove, Illinois, and the school librarian, who led the school’s participation in the Follett Challenge, an annual competition held by Follett School Solutions which supports schools that implement innovative methods of learning. The initiative, which won first prize, was not only a positive experience for the participants individu- ally but, according to the educators, strength- ened the school’s commitment to literacy, as well as helping students enjoy reading and writing.
Gamification was the motivation of the chal- lenge. Each student was assigned a house (or team) and the members worked together to win points in the various challenges. The students were responsible for the unfolding of the game
Figure 22. Map from the project
Conquest of the Realm. Source: https:// americanlibrariesmagazine.org/2016/03/01/ engaging-students-through-gamification/
and formed associations beyond the classroom to complete their challenges and help make decisions for the good of their house.
The rules of the game were simple: the four houses, each with 120 pupils, had to claim the throne of the lands of Oneillia. The house that earned the most points would win the throne. The challenges involved handling texts and images to create a broad variety of products ranging from reviews, mottos, articles, inter- views, photographs and illustrated reports to stories and graphic novels. And diverse technolo- gies were used in these tasks.
The results in figures were 34 videos promoting books; 30 stories for the state-wide competition; 42 collaborative blog presentations; 63 stories on characters in the game; and 217 comments on books in the catalogue.
The last example of good library practice we will be commenting on comes from the National Library Board of Singapore (NLB). Quest183 is a project that seeks to encourage young people
to read and attract them to libraries. Play and picture language, which are powerfully present in manga publications, comics and graphic novels, are the two core elements of this project.
It stems from the idea that, although the value of libraries is universally acknowledged, reading
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Readers in the digital age