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Digital Reshift   



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Making ILL a Game

April 22, 2008 Is interlibrary loan something you do, or something you can't wait to do? What if the task were more social? What if, and pardon me for going way out here, interlibrary loan were a game?
Amazing things happen to ordinary tasks when we imbue them with extraordinary significance. As Seth Godin noted recently, New York and DC were all in a twitter over the Pope's visit. Extraordinary measures were taken and people went a bit further because of the potential for a pontifical visit. As Liz Lawley pointed out in a recent talk, Mary Poppins does a nice job of highlighting this point as well; a spoonful of sugar does help the medicine go down. But what if that spoonful of sugar is delivered in the form of a game?

We are exploring turning ILL into a game. The basic mechanic will give libraries points for sending and receiving interlibrary loans, with bonus points for prompt delivery and ontime returns. A leaderboard (competition drives a LOT more than you might want to admit!) might prompt librarians to become more involved in resource sharing.

This is all part of a digital reshift. While some might say that resource sharing is down because more items are available digitally, we can also use the digital reshift and new technologies for online gaming to reinvigorate resource sharing. What are we really doing here? We are encouraging libraries to be more diverse in their collection development. To really think like a system (i.e. part of an information collective) as they consider areas for improvement. Sure, more informaiton is being digitized, but there is also a great deal more information now than ever before. Making ILL a game - providing points and recognition for libraries who have unique collections that can supply a region's needs - can help encourage libraries to explore the long tail.

Oh, and no three-part carbon forms are needed.

Posted by Chris Harris on April 22, 2008 | Comments (5)


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April 23, 2008
In response to: Making ILL a Game
illbeth commented:

Yeah, ILL is totally already a game -- but what a cool idea, and a great way to build community among ILL folk.




April 28, 2008
In response to: Making ILL a Game
al_carlson47 commented:

Good concept! We'd need a handicapping system (like golf) so that libraries of unequal size and collection could compete.




April 28, 2008
In response to: Making ILL a Game
belindalibrarian commented:

i already thought it was like a game. :D




April 28, 2008
In response to: Making ILL a Game
Christopher Harris commented:

I like the idea of handicapping. Perhaps a score based on percentage of your collection that is requested for ILL? Bonus points if you are the soul source for a resource?




June 12, 2008
In response to: Making ILL a Game
P. Skelly commented:

I like the way you think, Chris! I can always count on you for something from the edge. Are you working on developing this system?





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