1. Using a gaming framework for motivation & reinforcement in the workplace Jason M. Bloom Providence College Library Commons Assistant II jbloom@providence.edu

2. Gaming as a concept has been around for centuries. From Go to Chess, Poker to Monopoly, millions of people have been gaming from childhood. Board & card games have traditionally dominated, but electronic games are now taking a big lead. However, the concept of transforming everyday activities into a game is an old one, especially in the area of marketing, but gaming is now creeping into every aspect of our lives, from performance management (Employee of the Month) to household chores (Chorewars), To-Do Lists (Dunnit!), even driving your car (Nissan Leaf Carwings trophies) now have a game layer built up to turn mundane, everyday tasks into something fun, something that motivates.

3. Motivating student workers can be a daunting task, especially as the workforce skews younger. But this means more student workers are coming to libraries with knowledge of video games & gaming interfaces. One idea geared towards motivating players both intrinsically & extrinsically is the concept of Achievement Points. Many games use this concept, like World of Warcraft & Minecraft, & services like PlayStation 3's Trophies & Xbox Live through Microsoft's Xbox 360 console.

4. The Achievement Point concept is simple: gamers complete certain objectives & are rewarded with an Achievement Point or Points, which are then added to the player's total score. This score is publicly displayed on a leader board, so participants can track their ranking in real time, using it for bragging rights. The Achievement Point system helps foster friendly competition between players & motivates groups or teams of players to complete larger Achievements, using teamwork to be successful.

5. The Leader Board, section 1. Mounted and publicly displayed in student worker area in the library.

6. Close up of actual Achievements on Leader Board. “Title" or name of Achievement is first, the description follows.

7. For many student workers, much of library work can be repetitive, & too often they are handed work that other staff simply don't want to do. By utilizing the Leader Board, the work was given a face lift. Many students simply wanted to do certain tasks for the titles (Ruler of the Mole People was a popular one), some wanted to get the highest score, & still others went about completing Achievements systematically, like completing all delivery Achievements. By keeping the Leader Board publicly viewable by library personnel only, it gave the students an air of camaraderie & lent their work a greater sense of purpose. They competed with each other, worked together & completed tasks for their own selves. In the end, the Achievement Point system was able to jazz up mundane & routine tasks while fulfilling the goals of the organization along the way.

9. Achievement (video gaming). (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved January 21, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achievement_(video_gaming) Achievement Point generators: http://thetural.com/wow/ & http://thetural.com/360/ Ashcraft, B. (2010, December 27). It's like gamer achievements for your car. Retrieved January 21, 2010, from Gawker Media website: http://kotaku.com/5718711/its-like-gamer- achievements-for-your- car?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+kotaku/full+(Kotaku) Beck, J. C., & Wade, M. (2006). The kids are alright: how the gamer generation is changing the workplace. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Curley, V. (2010, July 15). Xbox: engineering blog. Retrieved January 21, 2010, from Microsoft website: http://www.xbox.com/en-US/Live/EngineeringBlog/071510-AchievementsUnlocked Davis, K. (2007, July). Chore wars. Retrieved June 16, 2010, from http://www.chorewars.com/ Gamification. (n.d.). In Wikipedia. Retrieved March 31, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamification Hannaford, K. (2010, March 2). Win achievement points for every 'to do list" task completed on the Dunnit! iPhone app. Retrieved January 21, 2010, from Gawker Media website: http://gizmodo.com/5483681/win-achievement-points-for-every-to-do-list-task-completed-on- the-dunnit-iphone-app NPR staff. (2011, March 27). ‘Gamifying’ the system to create better behavior. Retrieved March 31, 2011 from NPR website: http://www.npr.org/2011/03/27/134866003/gamifying-the- system-to-create-better-behavior Reeves, B., & Read, J. L. (2009). Total engagement: using games and virtual worlds to change the way people work and businesses compete. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press. Zichermann, Z. & Linder, J. (2010). Game-based marketing: inspire customer loyalty through rewards, challenges, and contests. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.