Update #4

Everything was implemented and the SCVNGR app is now live. If anyone is on campus and would like to see it, you will have to download the free app from the app store on your mobile device. You will need to create a free account and from the home page, go to to "Treks". The "Finding Library Items" trek should show up in the list for the "Leslie F. Malpass" library location. I have tested this with 5 users and overall have had good feedback. Some were hesitant about creating an account or creating an account with their Facebook. I have all four QR codes placed within the library, so students can complete the trek. Overall, it has worked well and I think that the users have found this scavenger hunt to be valuable. I would like to look into open source methods of completing this activity and revise this for use in the future.

Update #3

I have got the approval to move forward with using SCVNGR as a proof of concept for future use. We are also looking into some open-source alternatives. I have decided which challenges I will use in the library:

• Go to the Reference Desk and scan the book location guide
• Use the library catalog to find the following DVD: 10 Things I Hate About You
• Use the library catalog to find the following book: Giant early man from Java and south China
• Go to the desk place where you check out books, and find course reserves

I have my account activated and have been doing some test challenges with the app. I will be building the challenges today or Monday and it will go live. I have 3 or 4 people lined up to test this next week. They are student workers and colleagues of mine who work at the library. 

Update #2

I have completed my final project lesson plan. I started working with the SCVNGR application. I have started creating my trek and have played around with the builder side of it. It seems pretty easy to use and very user friendly, both for the builder and for the user. I went ahead and published a trek and tested the functionality using my mobile device. Everything worked great. I had to do some investigating as to how the QR code response worked, but figured that out and I think this could be a fun lesson. I am limited to only 5 items I can create in the free version. I have created the trek, which is one item, and will create 4 challenges. I would like this to serve as a proof of concept for the library. I will present information gathered from this lesson to the library Dean to see if this would be something he would like to fund in the future. If we would like to create more challenges, it will cost $80/month in subscription fees. This seems a bit expensive to me, so we'll see how this goes. I might be looking into open-source scavenger hunt application in the future.
Click here for a pdf link to my lesson plan report.

Final Project Proposal

For my final project, I would like to build an self-guided tour for the WIU Malpass Library. I would like to use the geo-location based web application called Scvngr. This application allows students to earn badges based on a trek, which I will create. I would also like to eventually implement some QR code interactivity for the self guided tour for the library. This self-guided tour will help incoming freshman become familiar with the library and everything it has to offer. This application works on both Android and iOS devices. The library has ipads available to checkout, which will have the software pre-loaded.