Abstract
This case study details the methodologies we used to create a gamified library orientation experience through an iterative design process involving the phases of empathize, define, ideate, prototype, and test. For libraries with staff skilled in basic HTML and graphic design, gamified experiences are possible when they approach them with a design-thinking mindset. In designing the gamified orientation experience, we used a minimal amount of coding and conducted usability testing with playtesters prior to launch. We describe a sequence of issues we encountered during playtests, and we discuss remedies we took to balance storyline, content, educational objectives, and gameplay.
Highlights
This guide is meant to help you, a librarian working in an academic library, to begin to think about how you might develop your own ethnographic research project. This toolkit demonstrates the use of applied ethnography—that is, ethnography pursued with the purpose of uncovering, understanding and addressing social problems—and will illustrate the process of planning and executing an ethnographic study in a library from beginning to end
The toolkit was developed as part of the Ethnographic Research in Illinois Academic Libraries (ERIAL) Project, a two-year study of the student research process
Funded by the Illinois State Library, the ERIAL Project was conducted at DePaul University, Illinois Wesleyan University, Northeastern Illinois University, the University of Illinois at Chicago, and the University of Illinois at Springfield with more than 600 student, librarian and faculty participants
Summary
This guide is meant to help you, a librarian working in an academic library, to begin to think about how you might develop your own ethnographic research project. The analysis is interpretive, yielding rich descriptions of students‘ experiences and different groups‘ understandings of each others‘ roles To arrive at these results, project methods include semi-structured interviews, photo elicitation, participant observation, mapping exercises, and web and space design workshops. Examples of research questions that would be answered with quantitative methods might be, ―How many members of our senior class can meet the ACRL standards for information literacy?‖ or ―How often do students use library resources to complete research projects for class?‖ Qualitative research tends to be inductive and hypothesis-generating; that is, it helps the researcher make educated guesses about how or why a process happens. It is important to consider carefully which methods best address your research questions and produce the types of data you need In this toolkit, we assume that you are interested in undertaking an ethnographic study of some aspect of your library.
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