David Folmar - Game It Up!: Using Gamification to Incentivize Your Library

About the Series Editor

Ellyssa Kroski is the Director of Information Technology at the New York Law Institute as well as an award-winning editor and author of 22 books including Law Librarianship in the Digital Age for which she won the AALLs 2014 Joseph L. Andrews Legal Literature Award. Her ten-book technology series, The Tech Set, won the ALAs Best Book in Library Literature Award in 2011. She is a librarian, an adjunct faculty member at Pratt Institute, and an international conference speaker. She speaks at several conferences a year, mainly about new tech trends, digital strategy, and libraries.

Titles in the Series

1. Wearable Technology: Smart Watches to Google Glass for Libraries, by Tom Bruno

2. MOOCs and Libraries, by Kyle K. Courtney

3. Free Technology for Libraries, by Amy Deschenes

4. Makerspaces in Libraries, by Theresa Willingham and Jeroen De Boer

5. Knowledge Management for Libraries, by Valerie Forrestal

6. WordPress for Libraries, by Chad Haefele

7. Game It Up! Using Gamification to Incentivize Your Library, by David Folmar

8. Data Visualizations and Infographics, by Sarah K. C. Mauldin

9. Mobile Social Marketing in Libraries, by Samantha C. Helmick

10. Digital Collections and Exhibits, by Juan Denzer

11. Using Tablets and Apps in Libraries, by Elizabeth Willse

12. Responsive Web Design in Practice, by Jason A. Clark

ROWMAN & LITTLEFIELD

Lanham Boulder New York London

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Folmar, David, 1969

Game it up! : using gamification to incentivize your library / David Folmar.

pages cm (Library technology essentials ; volume 7)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-4422-5334-6 (cloth : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4422-5335-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) ISBN 978-1-4422-5336-0 (ebook)

1. Libraries and community. 2. LibrariesSocial aspects. 3. LibrariesMarketing. 4. Library orientation. 5. Game theory. 6. Incentive (Psychology) 7. GamesSocial aspects. 8. GamesDesign and construction. I. Title.

Z716.4.F65 2015

021.2dc23

2015011703

TM The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of American National Standard for Information Sciences Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.

Printed in the United States of America

Incorporating the principles of game thinking into everyday tasks and workflows has become a steadily growing practice among businesses and libraries alike who hope to incentivize their staff and patrons. In Game it Up! Using Gamification to Incentivize Your Library, expert author David Folmar instructs readers about the ins and outs of setting up a gamification program in your library. This start-to-finish primer examines the building blocks of these programs, such as game thinking, game elements, player types, gamification platforms, and game design software, and goes on to lead the reader through how to gamify everything from staff orientation to patron services. Readers are guided through the process of planning and implementing projects such as how to gamify information literacy education using interactive fiction, how to create leaderboards and gamify programs with badges, how to gamify your librarys collection using augmented reality to link it to your library, and even how to build your own library video game in this ultimate guidebook!

The idea for the Library Technology Essentials book series came about because there have been many drastic changes in information consumption, new technological advancements, and growing user expectations over the past few years, which forward-thinking libraries are responding to by devising groundbreaking ways to remain relevant in a rapidly changing digital world. I saw a need for a practical set of guidebooks that libraries could use to inform themselves about how to stay on the cutting edge by implementing new programs, services, and technologies to match their patrons expectations.

Libraries today are embracing new and emerging technologies, transforming themselves into community hubs and places of co-creation through makerspaces, developing information commons spaces, and even taking on new roles and formats, all the while searching for ways to decrease budget lines, add value, and prove the return on investment of the library. The Library Technology Essentials series is a collection of primers to guide libraries along the path to innovation through step-by-step instruction. Written by the fields top experts, these handbooks are meant to serve as the ultimate gateway to the newest and most promising emerging technology trends. Filled with practical advice and project ideas for libraries to implement right now, these books will hopefully inspire readers to start leveraging these new techniques and tools today.

Each book follows the same format and outline, guiding the reader through the A to Z of how to leverage the latest and most cutting-edge technologies and trends to deliver new library services. The Projects chapter constitutes the largest portion of the books, providing library initiatives that can be implemented by both beginner and advanced readers and accommodating for all audiences and levels of technical expertise. These projects and programs range from the basic How to Circulate Wearable Technology in Your Library, and How to Host a FIRST Robotics Team at the Library to intermediate such as How to Create a Hands-Free Digital Exhibit Showcase with Microsoft Kinect, to the more advanced options such as Implementing a Scalable E-Resources Management System and How to Gamify Library Orientation for Patrons with a Top-Down Video Game. Readers of all skill levels will find something of interest in these books.