WEEHAWKEN FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY VIRTUAL TOUR PROPOSAL

By Sarah McCarthy

Library Tour Proposal• The problem with the “mysterious hill-top castle” of the Weehawken Free Public

Library is that most people don’t realize what it is.

• Increasing the visibility of our “mysterious hill-top castle” library and its numerous services through a virtual library tour could greatly increase library usage amongst the yet unreached library patronage.

• Virtual tours have become a common tool for both instruction and outreach.

• Adding a second phase to create a scavenger hunt game from the library virtual tour would appeal to this audience while still drawing in adults

Virtual Library Tour in Two Phases

•A Phase I virtual library tour could greatly increase library usage for unreached patronage.

•A Phase II scavenger hunt game would appeal to the large percentage of after-school kids /teen patrons (and to adults)

•Visitors would try to find 10-15 “Hidden Library Treasures” on secret library resource or feature.

•Patrons could later find these treasures in the actual library to receive a free museum pass (or other incentive).

•Note: the ALA is currently encouraging the concept of gaming in libraries. See: http://www.joystiq.com/2009/03/05/american-library-association-goes-gaming/

Basic Library Tour (Phase I) Virtual Scavenger Hunt (Phase II)

Library Tour Samples

THE LIBRARY’S TALKING TREE OF LEARNING AS GAME INSPIRATION

Phase 1: Basic Library Tour

Four Steps of Phase I

Total Time: 28-30 hours; Total Cost: $15-$1,200

1Create Floor Plan

2Photograph library

3Create Tour Location Text

4Develop Tour

Web Page

Create interactive digital floor plan of the library with clickable areas that open up to photographs / descriptions

1 Create Library Floor Plan

• 8-10 hours• $14.95 a year for usage of Floorplanner.com• Est. $160 contractor cost for creation of floor plan (8 hours at $20 an hour) OR• Free if volunteers are enlisted, as the software is easy to use

Floorplanner.com

2 Photograph Key Areas

• 2 hours (Main rooms, architectural highlights, special collections)• $200-500 to hire a photographer for 2 hours OR• Free if volunteers used– for example, I have equipment & photo background

3 Write Text for Tour Highlights

• 8 hours• Free, as this can easily be built into the schedule of existing library staff

4 Develop Web Tour

• 10 hours• $500 for developer (10 hours at $50 an hour• Est. $160 contractor cost for creation of floor plan (8 hours at $20 an hour) OR• Free, as this is a straightforward development project and could be done by a volunteer such as

college computer science student or a professional with some web development experience

Phase 2: Scavenger Hunt Game

Three Steps of Phase II

Total Time: 16-30 hours; Total Cost: Free-$1,500

1Create Storyline

2Photograph

Treasures

3Develop the Game

Develop Flash version of the above digital floor plan that then integrates a scavenger hunt game element

1 Create Game Storyline

• Determine 10-15 resources / “hidden treasures” for patrons to find, and create storyline and text for game

• Free, as this can easily be built into the schedule of existing library staff

2 Photograph Hidden Treasures

• 2 hours (Main rooms, architectural highlights, special collections)• Free if done in conjunction with part 2 of Phase I above

3 Develop The Game

• 15-20 hours• $1,500 for developer (20 hours at $75 per hour) OR• Free if done as class project for local technical school’s Flash development course, or

college animation or computer science class project• This portion is more affordable, as it can build upon fundamental work done in Phase I

Upkeep would be minimal, with only real additional time / cost requirements being minor edits for new library resources. This might require an additional 1-2 hours of work per year ($75-100 per year).

Further upkeep costs would be included if the library dramatically edits the floor plan, though the maintenance costs would still be much less than the initial output.

Upkeep

? And that concludes my tour of the Weehawken library tour project… Any Questions?