A Flash game designed to support undergraduate and postgraduate students in understanding issues in relation to referencing, the construction of bibliographies and plagiarism.

The Secrets of Biblioland Project team Elena Moschini (team leader) is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Media and the MA Digital Media course leader at London Metropolitan University, Department of Applied Social Sciences. Vanda Corrigan is the course leader for BA Game Studies at the Department of Humanities, Arts and Languages, London Metropolitan University. Enrico Benco is currently a part-time lecturer at Middlesex University. Che-Guevara John is a Senior Lecturer in Digital Media at London Metropolitan University, Department of Applied Social Sciences.

The Secrets of Biblioland Project team The Secrets of Biblioland project has been supported by: ESCalate, The Higher Education Academy: Subject Centre for Education. The project has been awarded an ESCalate Development Grant. and Learning & Teaching Projects Fund - The Centre for Academic Professional Development (CAPD) - London Metropolitan University.

The Secrets of Biblioland The problem Students are more accustomed to digital and online tools Libraries and books are not often used There is no clear understanding of the rationale for referencing There is no real awareness of plagiarism issues International students - different traditions There is no identification with the academic community/experience

The Secrets of Biblioland Learning outcomes Evaluate the role and history of libraries and bibliographic resources Identify the various types of academic resources Appreciate the relevance of researching literature and construct bibliographies Gain awareness of plagiarism issues

The Secrets of Biblioland Engage the player as part of the academic community Use narrative to demonstrate the historical journey of libraries and repositories of knowledge Highlight the rationale for referencing and the historical perspectives on plagiarism Referencing and the preservation and construction of knowledge as a mission Join the Followship of the Seekers, create a community

The Secrets of Biblioland

The Secrets of Biblioland In game-learning materials

The Secrets of Biblioland Quiz

The Secrets of Biblioland Mini-games

The Secrets of Biblioland The mission Find the Lost Reference by tracing the influence of an ancient author throughout the libraries of Biblioland – a mysterious land of ancient and future knowledge Follow the lead of the members of the "Fellowship of the Seekers" – a society devoted to the research and preservation of literary and scientific sources

An adventure game that leads the players across a variety of ancient and contemporary libraries The player/learner navigates the Biblioland environment to find the Lost Reference At each game level the player/learner has to solve mini-games, acquire information via the learning materials and solve a quiz The Secrets of Biblioland game Gameplay

The Secrets of Biblioland Game characters Fantasy librarians and members of the "Fellowship of the Seekers" give players precious hints, help and information during they journey

The Secrets of Biblioland Game levels Ancient Greece – Socrates Lost library of Alexandria Middle Ages - Benedictine Abbey Gutenberg and the invention of the press British Library – referencing systems The Plagiarism Cellar FutureLibrary

The Plagiarism Cellar Dave the Deluded

The Plagiarism Cellar Pamela from Plagiarism Control

The Secrets of Biblioland User-centred design Involving users since the beginning of the project Evaluate interface design, character design and education content with the end users Evaluate the learning outcomes

The Secrets of Biblioland Research questions/1 In relation to academic staff Perception of educational value of games Engagement of players with game Game design usability issues Appeal of game to mature students Appeal of game to female/male student groups Appropriateness of game learning outcomes

The Secrets of Biblioland Research questions/2 In relation to academic staff Appropriateness of game learning outcomes Academic staff perception of educational value of games for HE Awareness of game-based learning methods and theories Attitude towards implementing game-based learning in their teaching

The Secrets of Biblioland Outcome of focus groups Focus groups with academic staff Interested in trying the tool as part of their traditional teaching Reservations/doubts about the value of game-based learning in HE What about reading books and getting information from books? How to embed the game in face-to-face teaching?

The Secrets of Biblioland Outcome of focus groups Focus groups with students Find games very appropriate for HE Find the game idea very interesting and useful to grasp the concept of/rationale for referencing Claim that the rationale for referencing is usually totally misunderstood by students Find the game a useful addition to other learning tools

The Secrets of Biblioland Dissemination Moschini, E. (2008) 'The Secrets of Biblioland Interactive Game: An Innovative Approach to Information Literacy'. International Journal of the Book. Volume 5, Issue 3, pp.1-6. Moschini, E. (2006) Designing for the Smart Player. Usability design and user-centred design in game-based learning, in Digital Creativity, Vol. 17, Issue 3, Routledge 2007 The Secrets of Biblioland Interactive Game: An Innovative Approach to Information Literacy. 5th International Conference on the Book – Madrid.

The Secrets of Biblioland Future developments A larger scale evaluation and further development of the blog/community elements An increased presence in Second Life – elements of the game as an adventure in SL A mobile phone application as quick reference guide A mix-reality game involving visits to real libraries and use of OPAC catalogues

The Secrets of Biblioland in Second Life