As the Applied Sciences Librarian at James Madison University (JMU), I hoped to develop an engaging, hands on activity to introduce freshman engineering majors to the resources and services available at JMU’s Rose Library. A search of library journals turned up several examples of academic libraries that had used games as an orientation activity. Some of these games were special events resembling murder mystery dinner parties (Boykin & Willson-Metzger, 2005), and used props and actors to add realism. Others combined a computer game with real- world elements (Donald, 2008; Broussard, 2010). At Trinity University, an alternate reality game titled “Blood on the Stacks” required students to search for clues online, in videos, and in the library building to solve the mystery of a stolen Egyptian artifact (Donald, 2008). While reading about the success of these library games was encouraging, several factors constrained my project. I had no budget to purchase materials for the game and no previous experience as a game designer. The game would also need to be quiet and largely self-directed to avoid interfering with normal library operations. With these limitations in mind, I set out to design a simple, inexpensive library orientation game modeled after “Blood on the Stacks.”
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