Creating a Customizable Alternate Reality Game Toolkit for Academic Libraries

This article documents the process of creating and testing a prototype of a customizable Alternate Reality Game (ARG) toolkit for academic libraries. The goal of the project was to create an information literacy game toolkit for academic libraries that was more engaging and relevant to users than a traditional fact-based scavenger hunt. The researchers started with a Delphi study with librarians to develop a set of functional and technical requirements and then developed a story and prototype to meet those requirements. They then performed limited testing of the prototype and documented lessons learned about making games for libraries.