UKeiG Conference June 2009

Gaming and e-information

Stanley Tan

‘The user, the customer, the “Digital Consumer”… knowing them, understanding their needs, how can we deal with them in the remote Web environment? What are some of the challenges that we face as we embrace new e-information technologies? Legal issues, security, risks and expectations… How should and can we prepare ourselves to take on these challenges?'…These questions continuously flash in my mind, hot from the conference, but as I revisit the theme of the conference – Innovation – these questions fall in place. Innovation is an essential component in the development of e-information and information professionals if we are to continue to deliver effective e-information services and satisfy the “digital consumer” [1]. Information professionals will find themselves constantly striving to find new ways and fresh ideas to improve their e-information service in order to meet the changing needs, demands and expectations of a growing group of users; users who are not only well-accustomed to the dynamic and fluid environment of the Web, but also increasingly evolving as “Consumers” who expect and demand technologically sophisticated and engaging interactions with e-information spaces. Faced with this long-drawn and uphill race to innovate, is there anywhere that information professionals can look, for reference and guidance to better shape their services to the demands of the customers? In my opinion, online games.

In my entry to the conference student award, I argued that one of the most innovative developments in e-information lies in the use of games and elements of game environments to enhance e-information services. Computer games, and online games such as Massive Multiplayer Online Games (MMOGs) are complex systems where a range of player activities and actions (communicating, interacting, and the creation and manipulation of virtual content) take place simultaneously. Online games are also widely known for their highly interactive and immersive game environm Digital Consumers: Reshaping the Information Profession eds. David Nicholas and Ian Rowlands (Facet Publishing, 2008) ents that can engage a broad range of players [2]. More importantly, the ongoing advancement of games not only exemplifies how game producers have effectively managed user expectations and needs, but also catered to their evolving demands in a sustainable manner.

Though e-information service providers and online games provide seemingly different services, there in fact have much in common. Both types of services are user-centred, and are used by large numbers of people. At the same time, both services often involve simultaneous participation by many distributed online users who access and affect large quantities of data. In this respect, technical, interface and communication attributes of online games are of particular relevance to the developers of e-information services. An awareness of these games' attributes can provide information service providers with (i) clues to the myriad ways in which people can and do use online systems, (ii) ideas for fresh or enhanced means of providing access to digital information and (iii) references to technical aspects of complex online game services and systems that serve many simultaneous users [1].

Current attention and interests of information professionals concerning Web 2.0 highlight parallels between online games and an emerging generation of online services that are not only more open, but also offer greater user-control. E-information spaces such as Facebook, Second Life and Wikipedia are exemplars of the use of immersive-yet-permeable game-like environments that bring new levels of engagement and interaction between users and information providers [2]. Successful application of game environments and the information architecture of games to a wide variety of e-information services, for example, e-marketing through sponsor-driven games, using virtual simulation games for training professionals such as surgeons and pilots, and the integration of e-learning games into school curricula are also evidence of emerging opportunities for innovative and effective delivery of services by e-information service providers [3].

Online games such as MMOGs and Massively Multiplayer Online Games (MMORPGs) have been effectively using participative features and communications within the games to encourage greater user manipulation and engagement with the game and fellow players. Such games can become excellent models and references in the effective deployment and management of similar features in e-information service sites, especially if e-information providers are more inclined to adopt Web 2.0 features. Similarly, as information professionals are exploring ways of milking the value of user-generated content and the potential of folksonomies, a variety of games have in fact successfully integrated user-generated content into their game environments and game plays. User-generated game environments and the users' ability to customise the game to something infinitely bigger than the original game itself were major features of the game, Quake, when it was released in 1996 [1]. From game rules to graphics, sound and game maps, everything could be customized by a community of game coders. They were part of a larger community that included game and map designers and many thousands of players who played and socialised, both in the game and outside it, in chat rooms, blogs, discussion forums and newsgoups.

This concept of surrounding the game with a strong user community that is closely linked to the game itself is yet another worthy consideration for e-information service providers, especially those involved with electronic archives and library services when developing new generations of finding aids to facilitate user exploration of archives and library holdings. Doing so will not only allow archives and libraries to provide an additional layer of help to their users in seeking the information they require; in addition, archives and libraries will have added opportunities to study their users' preferences, navigation and search behaviours, in order to improve their services. Similarly for intranet administrators, useful insights can also be gained from studying the dynamics of game user-communities and the tools that facilitate communication, sharing of information and interaction within the communities.

As we have heard from speakers at the conference [2], information professionals are no strangers to the technical and security issues that come along with a large user base and extended scale of usage. As e-information services progress, information professionals will inevitably face technical and security issues that will grow and evolve in proportion and complexity. Failure to tackle these issues appropriately can have severe implications. Online games are potentially useful technical references and yardsticks for security issues for e-information service providers. Online games allow many thousands of people to play and interact simultaneously. The game, Ultima Online, for example, recorded more than 160,000,000 man-hours of playing time in a year [3]. Technically, such online games require a massive and robust infrastructure, as slow service tends to frustrate players and deter them from continuing with the game. Likewise, e-information services that suffer slow service due to poor technological infrastructure could easily be regarded by users to provide unreliable service or be shunned for other information sites that are deemed more capable of keeping up with their users. Security is also a major issue that is common between online games (especially MMOGs) and e-information service providers. Often online games face security issues that can range from malicious hacking that try to crash the game, or cause large-scale interferences, to benign practices such as finding shortcuts to enhance the players' game status. Game maintainers attend to these security breaches seriously to avoid the mass exodus and loss of disgruntled game players to other competing games and more importantly the associated loss of revenue that will result [1]. While e-information service providers may not face similar security and fairness issues as online games maintainers, they nonetheless remain highly susceptible to other forms of security breaches that can result in equally damaging consequences. Generally, e-information service providers that aim to cater to users of a size and scale that is comparable to MMOGs can potentially take reference from the information and technical infrastructure as well as security measures of online games as they are often maintained at a highly advanced level [2] .

The parallels between e-information services and online games that have been highlighted and explored above are by no means exhaustive. There are still issues of risk management, various aspects of legislation and rights management, and more that can be explored. As we continue to seek ideas and references to guide us in creating new means of interacting with our customers, engaging them and their information needs, as well as meeting the challenges that comes along with the new approaches, it is always comforting to know that there are many other Web services out there that we can potentially draw inspirations and guidance from. To me, online games is an excellent model of reference that I will tap on and there are probably more that we can look towards in the ‘crazy' world of the Web. But more importantly, as Lisa (Charnock) and Lisa (Jeskins) have stressed in their breakout sessions, try them out!

Bibliography

Andrew Hinton, “We Live Here: Games, Third Places and the Information Architecture of the Future.” The Information Society for the Information Age http://www.asis.org/Bulletin/Aug-06/hinton.html (accessed January 19, 2009,)

Kurt Squire, “From Content to Context: Videogames as Designed Experience.” Educational Researcher 35, no. 8 (November 2006): 19–29.

Nicholas, David, and Ian Rowlands, eds., Digital Consumers: Reshaping the Information Profession (Facet Publishing, 2008).

“Parallel Worlds: Online Games and Digital Information Services,” http://www.dlib.org/dlib/december05/kirriemuir/12kirriemuir.html (accessed May 22, 2009,).

Interview with Stanley Tan: A Student Winner…

Notes From My Meeting With The Winner Of The UKeiG Student Conference Grant

Chris Armstrong

Every year UKeiG offers a number of awards to students to facilitate their attendance at a library or information conference. This year – appropriately – one of the awards was won by a student wishing to attend our 2009 UKeiG Conference ‘Innovation in e-information'. The winner was Stanley Tan, currently undertaking an MSc in Information Management and Preservation at the University of Glasgow . He is visiting the UK for the ten months of his further degree from his native Singapore where he manages the outreach and education programmes at the National Archives of Singapore.

I spoke to him during the conference and asked him about his background, what had attracted him to the conference, and what he hoped to take away from it. His research interests have to do with outreach; and his interest in games, gaming and their ability to draw people together and create communities has made him wonder whether similar approaches can be used to enhance, or create new approaches to, information services. He said that games played an active part in the way in which he looked at information and archives management as he feels that very often these websites fail to attract or engage the user adequately. If games can be so successful at drawing people in and retaining them, at creating communities, shouldn't we, as information professionals, look towards games to see what we can learn from them. Whatever it is that works for games software in developing user communities should also be able to work around library and archive websites.

His dissertation is on users' reaction to archival finding aids; and some of his work has been in identifying and testing elements that are often found in a gaming environment such as discussion forums. The parallels with Web 2.0/Library2.0 approaches have not escaped him – and these were the Conference presentations which most drew him to Manchester , and which he felt would prove useful for his dissertation. Already, when I spoke to him, several papers had provided food for thought! References to the Google Generation report ( http://www.bl.uk/news/2008/pressrelease20080116.html ) in particular were relevant and he commented that his experience of that generation of users suggested that their search techniques were weak – they depend too much on Google, using just one or two keywords and trusting the results implicitly. As a part of his dissertation research he has been interviewing users (he has reached the analysis stage prior to writing up the results) and several of his interviewees fell into the Google Generation frame. While they were generally “more savvy” in terms of Web navigation, it was clear that their use was neither sophisticated nor particularly skilled. Echoing the report's call for a training programme on information literacy skills in schools, Stanley wondered how to fill the information literacy gap so as to make sure that skills important in the past are not forgotten. Richard Wallis' ‘Waves of Innovation' and Nic Price's ‘Constant Gardener' had also inspired, and – at the time we spoke – he was looking forward to the interaction of the breakout sessions in the hope that they would provide more food for dissertation thought!

Stanley Tan's enthusiasm for his work in Singapore where he has responsibility for part of the Archives' holdings as well as for connecting with its users was evident as we spoke, and it will be interesting to hear how his dissertation research feeds into his day job. Perhaps eLucidate can hope for a short paper from him in a year's time!

Interview with Christine Cother: an International Delegate

Michael Upshall

Some of the delegates to the UKEIG conference 2009 travelled long distances. This doesn't mean Aberdeen ; we are talking Australia . There were no fewer than three delegates from Australia and NZ. I asked one of them, Christine Cother, why she had travelled all those thousands of miles.

M – Christine, most of us feel it's an achievement to spend a couple of hours on the train or motorway to get here. Was it worth coming all this way to the UKeiG conference?

C – Yes. Actually, I was lucky enough to win an Award from my university, a Vice Chancellor's award for Professional staff excellence, and that provided a helpful subsidy that enabled me to come to Europe for a trip combining business with pleasure (my daughter lives in London). I presented a paper at the IATUL Conference taking place in Leuven, and I then came to England to visit a number of universities: Cranfield, Salford, Sheffield Hallam (because of its distance learning experience), and City of London University.

M – Why these in particular?

C – Well, Cranfield is very interested in the work we are doing at the University of South Australia in providing a virtual reference services (VRS). We created this using OCLC Question Point software, and it enables students to post questions by e-mail, and staff to redirect these comments to relevant staff, or share the question among two or more staff, as well as keeping a record of all the enquiries

M – Fascinating. So this is something like the reference desk of big public libraries from years ago, where you could ask them any question, such as the capital of Armenia? [1]

C – Not quite! The students can find this sort of thing out for themselves. The questions we get tend to relate to courses, such as “what are the set books for this course?” We can then either point them to pre-existing information resources, such as reading lists, or pass the question to the relevant lecturer. We can embed links in e-mails and keep track of enquiries until they are fully resolved. Plus, we have records of all the questions.

M – Sounds impressive. And I suppose you can add up all the questions and produce an FAQ?

C – Well, since the questions are quite specific, an FAQ doesn't really apply. But in addition to answering the students' questions, we can show that the library staff are providing a valuable service, which I think is very important.

M – I imagine the VRS keeps you quite busy.

C – In addition to managing the VRS, my team also support something called the Centre for Regional Engagement. This is an initiative that is targeted at schools and public libraries in some of the areas of Adelaide that have a lower proportion of entrance to higher education.

M – What does this involve?

C – The University works with the schools and the Library works with the public, school and TAFE libraries in the region. Plus, we provide free access to the University library for students and teachers of these schools. Although anyone is welcome to use the library as a walk-in user, borrowing usually costs A$110 per year. We waive this fee for educational users in these zones.

M – Do you have distance learners at the University?

C – And how! We have sites that are approximately 500 km north of Adelaide , and another one 550km south, without a library. We also have many thousands of external students across Australia and in offshore locations including Singapore , Hong Kong and Canada . We are also part of the Open University Australia. Our Academic Library Services Teams are responsible for developing online resources in support of the teaching and learning programs of the University.

M – Have you noticed any difference between UKeiG and similar groups in Australia ?

C – I find the information community is more involved in social media here – blogs, wikis, Facebook, that kind of thing. I was also very interested to see such a wide group of users represented in UKeiG. You have librarians from higher education, from public libraries, from professional associations, and all kinds of institutions. There's no similar organisation in Australia that mixes all these categories up.

M – Do you think that is an advantage or a drawback?

C – An advantage, because you can see the similarities and differences between issues and how they are addressed in a variety of sectors. Each can learn from the other, in much the same way as I do from working with my partner. He and I run a Management Consulting business. While I work full-time for the university, I am involved in his work as well. The consultancy has an interest in action learning and promotes this via http://www.leanactionlearning.com.au . Cother Consulting works with companies on a range of issues from organisational change, to process improvement and the development of teams to develop better human organisations systems in the workplace.

M – Sounds like you have no shortage of things to keep you busy. I hope you enjoy the rest of your stay in England .

C – Thanks.