My notes on #libcampuk12: Playing games & Organising your own library camp

I only managed to attend two full sessions at this library camp, one of which I led together with Claire @calire.

The time in between those and food breaks was filled with socialising, having meetings that I had arranged ahead with people I don’t normally see and trying to get other people to arrange local library camps.

Making games for libraries & play, led by Andrew Walsh @andywalsh999

  • “games and that sort of thing”
  • Andrew has developed games that teach library skills, e.g. Seek! -> afterwards more in depth discussion with players
  • other examples for interactive literacy learning: story cubes, Gloom, Say Anything, Inform7
  • games can be used in education/libraries even if they haven’t been developed for educational purposes- > e.g. teach about architecture (ask @miss_wisdom for more info as I can’t remember which game she mentioned)
  • exchange of ideas to use in school libraries
  • why not try: treasure hunt using QR codes, geocaching, SCVNGR
  • don’t forget about aesthetics when developing a game -> you can have a best game in the world but people are not going to play if it looks boring/cheap
  • there are still prejudices against games and gaming -> positives might not even enter the debate if knowledge not there -> advocacy needed -> how quick can culture change?
  • games are not just for kids! games often seen as “not serious” or “worthy”
  • use games in positive ways in libraries and education
  • take different learning styles into account -> same for games as other things -> different motivation needs
  • don’t be scared of games -> try it before you moan about it
  • the Army uses games for recruitment and training, e.g. Triage
  • The use of fines is a bit like “negative” gamification -> play nice (by the rules) and you don’t get fines
  • loyalty schemes are so popular because it’s like a game with rewards -> rewarding people encourages them to do what you want (I learned about “bootsing” which means getting more reward points on your Boots card by doing certain things, e.g. use self-service till)
  • examples of games to get data/crowdsourcing (some more open about goals than others): Centre for Disease Control (@AEBMcN knows more about this), Microtask’s Digitalkoot for National Library of Finland, Trove for National Library of Australia, Old Weather, High Tea
  • how can YOU use games in YOUR library?
  • links: upcoming gamification course on Coursera, Gamification wiki, Lemon Tree

Run your own library camp, led by me and Claire @calire

  • a session that we proposed to get the message across that library camps can be very easy to organise and that new organisers are needed to keep the ideas fresh
  • you don’t necessarily need funding to run a library camp as small camps have managed without funding, e.g. Leeds #libcampls -> only really need funding if you want to provide food. There are always many people who want to bring food/cake - let them and your food bill stays low.
  • library camps have so far survived without tickets fees and we hope it’ll stay that way
  • especially for local library camps you don’t need much more than a room, post-it notes, some paper plates and napkins – and people!
  • it’s annoying when participants cancel last minute and there is no time to give away the spaces to others who would have been interested to attend -> ideas: oversell, or charge for cancellations if cancelled after a specified date
  • the demand/need for library camps is still there, so don’t just say you want to go to one – make it happen!!
  • Richard Veevers @richardveevers says: “it’s been so easy” “just do it”
  • The need for a library camp toolkit was expressed. I wrote a checklist after organising Library camp Leeds that might fill the gap: http://bumsonseats.wordpress.com/2012/04/16/library-camps-what-do-you-need/

Having attended two big library camps and two small ones (Manchester and Leeds) now I have to say that I prefer the smaller ones as it’s easier to chat to more people and personally I got more out of those.

The wifi situation at this library camp was not ideal as most people couldn’t log on but I actually saw that as a positive because it forced people to talk to people who were with them in the room.

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About Carolin Schneider

Gas station attendant of the mind (librarian), learner, reader, googler, traveller, web 2.0er, library camper. My personal views.
This entry was posted in librarycamp and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

2 Responses to My notes on #libcampuk12: Playing games & Organising your own library camp

  1. Pingback: Summary: Conferences, events and networking « #uklibchat

  2. Pingback: Practical suggestions for running your own Library Camp » Ginformation Systems

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