Week 10 Reflect Activity

The type of organisation I hope to work in after graduation is a public library. I think that the best idea for gamification would be a form of treasure hunt. It would be easy to incorporate a system of hiding information throughout the library, with QR codes attached. The QR codes would link to text providing educational information based on a theme regarding the local area and then a clue as to where to find the next bit of information. The library staff could also be involved by having it necessary that participants in the game ask staff certain questions. I think that this would provide an engaging and attractive system to encourage people to learn more about where they live. It could also be expanded to more location neutral topics such as science.

The main issue with this of course is that not everyone has a smartphone that will be able to read QR codes. The obvious answer is to have the library provide devices that are able to do this. While this would be an extra cost there would be the added benefit of introducing many people to newer technologies, particularly the elderly community who have not taken to new technology as readily.

From personal experience I do know that gamification can work when done correctly. Valve Corporation recently introduced a gamification system for their Steam software; an online digital distribution software for video games. This system rewards you for playing games that you have bought with virtual trading cards. I got quite caught up in this and collected a large number of cards and I know others who have also done this. While this was done to promote profits for a business it is easy to see the concept does work and could be easily adapted to educating people in a library.

As the role of a library is to provide access to information for the local community, this would help immensely in encouraging people to use these services; particularly if tangible rewards are offered e.g. a prize donated from a local business.