ProjectScopeStatement

TheMichiganTechnologicalUniversity
LibraryGame

TeamC.A.T.
CheryllFong,AbigailDillon,TeresaSchmidt
http://sliscat.weebly.com
October6,2015

LIS 640: Project Management & Systems Analysis

School of Library and Information Studies
TeamC.A.T.ProjectScopeStatement

A.BusinessObjectives

1. BusinessNeed,Opportunities,andObjectives

Informationliteracyisoneofthe
eightstudentlearninggoals
ofMichiganTechnological
University(MTU):
Studentswillbeabletoanalyzetheneedfor,strategicallyaccess,criticallyevaluate,and
useinformationeffectively,ethically,andlegally.1
TheUniversityhasdevelopedan
InformationLiteracyRubric
toguidethedevelopmentof
informationliteracyskills,andthe
VanPeltandOpieLibrary
hasbeenactively
supporting
this
goalforanumberofyears.Inordertocontinuetosupportinformationliteracyskillsinstruction,
thelibraryisproposinganewprojectcalledTheLibraryGame.
LibrarystaffhaveidentifiedthreepointsofneedininformationliteracyinstructionatMTUthat
canbeaddressedthroughtheLibraryGame:
Students,particularlyfirstyearstudentsandotherundergraduates,havearangeof
understandingofinformationliteracyconcepts.
StudentshaveavariedunderstandingoftheVanPeltandOpieLibrarysresourcesand
howtoaccessthem.
Facultyhaveidentifiedareaswherestudentsneedimprovementininformationliteracy
skillsinordertoachieveacademicsuccess.

Howdidlibrarystaffidentifytheseneeds?
In2014,facultyandlibrarystaffmettoanalyzestudentsinformationliteracyskills.By
examiningpaperswrittenbyfirstyear
Composition
and
GlobalIssues
students,thestaff
andfacultyidentifieddifferinglevelsofinformationliteracyamongstudentsandgapsin
measurableaspectsofinformationliteracy.
Thelibrarysstudentworkersnotedthatthetrainingtheyreceivedonusinglibrary
resourceswouldbeusefultothegeneralstudentpopulation.
Thelibrarysreferenceservicessurveyshaveidentifiedspecificstudentneeds,gapsin
knowledge,andneededenhancementstolibraryinstructionservices.
Opportunities:
TheVanPeltandOpieLibraryisuniquelysuitedtoreachouttostudentsinasocial
environmentbecauseitisalreadyacentralsocialhubforstudentsoncampus.Mostcampus
computerlabsarelocatedinthelibrary.Thelibraryhasavarietyofresourcesavailabletoutilize
inthecreationofagamewiththepurposeofintroducingundergraduatestudentstomaterial
thatcanassistthemwiththeirresearch.
Gamingalsoprovidestheopportunitytoteachstudentsinauniquewayandtoaddressa
varietyoflearningstyles.Gamingisbecomingalargerpartofmainstreampopularculture,and
thisprojectwilltakeadvantageofthattrendtoreachanewpopulationofstudentswhomight
1

FromUniversityStudentLearningGoals,
http://www.mtu.edu/assessment/program/universitylearninggoals/

LIS 640: Project Management & Systems Analysis

School of Library and Information Studies
TeamC.A.T.ProjectScopeStatement

nototherwiseengagewiththelibrary.Thelibrarywillutilizetheservicesofthe
HuskyGames
studententerprisepartnershiptodevelopgamesoftware.Usingthisstudentrunbusinessteam
willalsoprovideastudentcenteredperspectiveonthegamedesign.
Additionalfactors:
Since2013,thelibraryhasseenareductioninapplicantsanddifficultyinhiringstudentworkers
foraccessandreferenceservicespositions.TheLibraryGamecouldhelpdevelopapoolof
studentsinterestedinbecominglibraryworkersbybuildingtheirconfidenceininformation
literacyandlibraryskills,andbyincreasingthenumberofstudentswhoarefamiliarwiththe
libraryasapositivecampusinstitution.
Duetoincreasingbudgetconstraintsandthereductioninstudentworkers,librarystafftimeisat
apremium.AcampuswideinformationliteracyinstructionprogramlikeTheLibraryGamewill
requireanallocationoflibrarystafftimeduringdevelopment,butbybuildingstudentslibrary
skillsitwillallowlibrarystafftospendmoretimeonhigherlevellibraryassistanceinthefuture.
Consequences:
Ifinformationliteracyissuesarenotaddressed,studentswillhavemoredifficultyintheir
academiccareers.Moreinstructortimemayneedtobespentoninformationliteracyinstruction,
andlibraryresourceswillbeunderutilized.Informationliteracyisanimportantpartofour
studentsdevelopmentandeducation,whichiswhytheUniversityhasidentifieditasaprimary
UniversityLearningGoal.Thelibraryisaprimarypartnerinachievingthatgoal.
Ifthisprojectissuccessful,studentswillhavegreateracademicsuccessandcourseinstruction
attheundergraduatelevelwillbemoreefficient.Libraryresourceswillbebetterutilized,andthe
librarywillcontinuetodemonstrateitsrelevancetotheundergraduatestudentpopulation.
HelpingtheUniversitytoachieveoneofitsprimarylearninggoalswillalsohelpthelibrary
maintainstandinginthecampuscommunityandintheeyesofcampusadministration.

2. ProductDescription(Solution)
DescriptionofTheLibraryGame:
TheLibraryGamewilltakeplaceduringtheFall2016semester.Studentswillbepresentedwith
aseriesoftasksorgameactivities,andtheycanchoosetocompletesomeorallofthe
activitiesaccordingtotheirownschedules.Multipletypesoftaskswillbeavailable,butallwill
focusoninformationliteracyconceptsordevelopingthestudentsinformationliteracyskills.
Taskswillvaryaccordingtolearningstyles,difficultylevel,teamworkrequirements,andmedium
(i.e.physicalvs.digital).Participatingstudentswillearnpointsforcompletingtasksorattending
libraryevents,andcanusethosepointstoearnprizes.

LIS 640: Project Management & Systems Analysis

School of Library and Information Studies
TeamC.A.T.ProjectScopeStatement

SuccessCriteria:

DeveloptheLibraryGamefortheFall2016semester.
Meetthefollowingstudentengagementgoals:
Atleast1000undergraduatesregisterforthegame
Atleast750participantscompleteoneormoregameactivitiesorgameevents
Atleast200participantscompletefiveormoregameactivities
IntegratetheLibraryGameintothecourserequirementsfor
UN1015Compositiona
nd
UN1025GlobalIssues
.73%offirstyearstudentstakeoneofthesecourses.
StudentsinUN1015andUN1025willberequiredtoregisterforthegameand
completeaminimumoftwogameactivities.
Provideenoughprizesforallparticipantswhoearnpoints.
Establishevaluationmethodstocollectgamedata:
Developapostgameparticipantsurvey.
Developapostgamefacultysurvey.
Providemechanismtotrackdataongameparticipationandcompletionratesfor
eachgameactivityandlibraryevent.
DeveloptheLibraryGameonscheduleandwithin10%oftheprojectbudget.

3. Deliverables
Deliverablesincluded:

StatementofprimaryinformationliteracygoalstobeaddressedbytheLibraryGame,
developedwithfacultyandlibrarystaffinput
TheLibraryGameactivitycomponents:
Eightgameactivitiesthataddressinformationliteracygoals
Scheduleofrelatedlibraryeventsandtechnologybasedactivities
Testingandplaythroughofgameactivitiestoensureplayability
Onlinepointstrackingsystem
Prizesandprizedistributionsystem
Marketingplanandimplementation
Feedbackandgamedatacollectionsystem:
Postgameparticipantsurveys
PostgamesurveysofUN1015andUN1025faculty
Mechanismtotrackdataongameparticipation

Deliverablesnotincluded:

ImplementationoftheLibraryGameactivities
Evaluationofpostgamedata

LIS 640: Project Management & Systems Analysis

School of Library and Information Studies
TeamC.A.T.ProjectScopeStatement

B.ProjectDescription

1. Scope

Thisprojectwillconsistofcreatingastudentengaginggamerevolvingaroundinformation
literacyconcepts.Projectdevelopmentwillbecompletedandthegamewillbereadyfor
implementationbyAugust29,2016.Gamemechanicswilladdressessentialinformationliteracy
skillsandwillbeaccessibletodifferentlearningstylesandskilllevels.

2. CompletionCriteria

Theprojecthasbeensuccessfullycompletedwhenthefollowingconditionsaremet:
Libraryfacultyandstaffhaveidentifiedtheprimarylearningobjectivesforthegame.
Eightdifferentgametaskshavebeenplanned,developed,andtested.
Thegameinstructionshavebeenfinalized.
Thescoringsystemhasbeenestablished.
Amarketingplanhasbeendevelopedandimplemented.
Prizesandincentiveshavebeenobtained,andtheprizeschedulesanddistribution
systemestablished.
Thelibrarystaffhasbeentrained.

3. RiskAssessment
PotentialpointsofriskindevelopingtheLibraryGameinclude:

Shortageofstafftimeandresourcestodevelopthegame
Potentialstudentdisinterest:Studentsmaynotbeinclinedtovoluntarilyparticipateinan
informationliteracygame,andstudentswhoarerequiredtoparticipateintheirfirstyear
coursesmaycompleteonlytheminimumamountrequired.Studentsatatechnological
universityalsohaveahighinterestingaming,andwillexpecthighqualitygame
mechanicsandstory.
Lowstakeholderbuyin:Notalllibrarystaffmembersaregamers,andmayneed
convincingthatthisprojectisworthyofresources.Facultymaynotbemotivatedto
participateingameplanning.
Technologyglitchesinthepointsystemandvirtualactivitiesinterferewithgameplayand
rewardssystem.

Riskmitigationplan:

Staffresources:SecurecommitmentsfromLibrarymanagementandstafftoallocate
workhoursandresourcestothedevelopmentandimplementationoftheLibraryGame.
Potentialstudentdisinterest:ThelibrarystaffwillpartnerwithHuskyGamesandinclude
studentrepresentationintheprojectdevelopmentteamsinordertocreateagamethat
isengagingfromthestudentsperspectiveandfreeoftechnologyglitches.Plannerswill
ensurethattherearequalityprizesinenoughquantity.Theprojectplanwillincludea

LIS 640: Project Management & Systems Analysis

School of Library and Information Studies
TeamC.A.T.ProjectScopeStatement

comprehensivepromotionalplantomarketthegameandgenerateinterestamong
campusstudents.
Lowstakeholderbuyin:UtilizetheexpertiseofHuskyGamesmemberstodemonstrate
forstakeholdershowgamescanbeatoolforstudentlearning
Developatestingscheduletoensurequalitygamemechanicsforallactivitiesandto
workoutanypotentialtechnologicalproblems.Establishfrequentdownloadscheduleof
pointsinformationtocontrolthedatabeingcollected.

4. Constraints

Limitedstafftimeavailable:Teammembersmusthandoffregulartasksinorderto
attendtoprojecttasks.
Limitedbudget:Aportionofthefundingforthisprojectwillcomefromthelibrarys
outreachbudget,whiletheremainderwillbeprovidedthroughspecialprojectsfunding
fromtheProvost.
ITExpertise:CampusITdoesnothaveresourcesavailabletodevelopagamesystem
forthisproject.Needtooutsourceworkonthegametechnologyandinterfaces,utilizing
theHuskyGamesteam.
Limitedprizes:Budgetandstafftimeconstraintsforobtainingprizes.Needtomonitor
gameprogresstoensurethatthereareenoughprizesavailableforparticipants.

5. DependencyLinkages

Gametaskswillbeconstructedaroundastatementofinformationliteracygoalsdevelopedwith
inputfromfacultyandlibrarystaff.Thiswillrequireacommitteeofstakeholderswhoseactivities
willneedtobemonitoredtoensurethatthecommitteesrecommendationsarecompleteintime
toallowthedevelopmentandtestingofgameactivities.

TheLibraryGamewillpartnerwiththeHuskyGamesteamtodevelopthepointstracking
systemandvirtualgametaskswithintheprojectstimeframe.HuskyGamesisastudentrun
enterprise,andassuchisdependentonstudenttimeandskills.

6. Impacts

Librarysupportstaffwillcarryadditionaldutieswhilelibrarystaffandadministration
directtheirresourcestothedevelopmentandimplementationofthegame.
Increasedlibrarytrafficandhigherdemandonthelibrarywebsiteduringthegame
activityperiod
Alterationofstaffduties:significantstafftimewillbededicatedtowardstheLibraryGame
duringthebeginningofanewschoolyear.Additionalstafftimemaybenecessaryto
ensurethecontinuationofotherlibraryservices.

LIS 640: Project Management & Systems Analysis

School of Library and Information Studies
TeamC.A.T.ProjectScopeStatement

7. MeasuresofProjectSuccess

Participation:achievestatedparticipationgoals
Studentfeedback:Formalandinformationfeedbackfromstudentssuchascomment
logsatinteractionpointsandasurveyattachedtopointtrackingsystemconclusion
Facultyfeedback:Dotheactivitiesplannedmeetthestatedlearningobjectives?Arethey
relevanttoundergraduateacademicneeds?
Longtermsuccessmeasure:Increaseinsubsequentsemesterslibrarygatecountand
websitevisits
Longtermsuccessmeasure:Subsequentlibraryreferencestudiesshowanincreasein
undergraduateawarenessoflibraryresources

8. Assumptions

UniversityProvostisinsupportofthegameandwillprovideadequatefunding.
Libraryadministrationisinsupportofthegameandwillallocatelibrarystafftimetoit.
ThestudentrunenterpriseHuskyGameshasthetechnicalresourcesandexpertiseto
developonlinegametasksandscoringsystem.

9. CriticalSuccessFactors

Gametaskswillbeapprovedbyadministrationandalignedwithidentifiedinformation
literacygoals.
HuskyGameswilldevelopthepointtrackingsystemandvirtualgametasks.
Staffwillbetrainedtointeractwiththegameandtheparticipatingstudents.