Disclaimer: This Blog article was first published on 23.10.24 on the TIB Blog under the licence CC BY 4.0 international.

As part of the conference Open-Access-Tage 2024 in Cologne, we had the opportunity on 12 September to offer an exciting workshop on the topic of “Gamification in Open Access Advisory Services”. With 25 committed participants, we explored how game-like elements can be integrated into consultations to promote learning and interaction.

The workshop began with an informative input presentation that conveyed basic knowledge about gamification, its potential and limitations. Gamification is by now firmly established in many people’s everyday lives: we collect points at the supermarket, track our kilometres with a smartwatch, or receive virtual awards for our learning progress. The transfer of game-like elements and designs to non-gaming contexts makes use of gaming as an age-old cultural technique to convey complex subject matter in an understandable and playful way, to motivate people, to bring about behavioural change, and to make learning fun. Using examples from practice, we showed how gaming approaches can not only increase motivation but also facilitate the understanding of complex topics such as open access. Our presentation is available on Zenodo: https://zenodo.org/records/13950584

The theoretical introduction was followed by a gaming session in which the participants could test games that have already been developed. These games are specially designed to convey through play aspects of open access and the associated challenges. The participants formed small groups, played together, and shared their experiences of the games.

The following games could be played:

• Puzzle from open-access.network
• Crossword puzzle from open-access.network
• Open-Access-Challenge, a board game developed by students at ZB MED – Information Centre for Life Sciences; currently available as an online quiz within the framework of Open Access Week
• Open Science Cafe
• Two puzzles from Berlin University of the Arts

This interactive session was followed by gamestorming: We played the train-the-trainer card game created by Gwen Franck. The participants drew cards featuring basic parameters for a fictional training course (e.g. target group, level of knowledge, group size etc). Based on the format drawn, they then developed creative gamification ideas that not only promoted exchange among themselves but also encouraged them to develop playful and interactive approaches for future training and consultation situations.

Other open access or open science games that we mentioned during our workshop are:

• The Publishing Trap
• Coopac
• Open Access Escape Room
• Open Science Rallye
• Research Data Scary Tales

Our workshop on the topic of “Gamification in Open Access Advisory Services” was characterised by lively exchanges and creative ideas. From complex simulation games to interactive quiz formats – the participants developed a wide range of exciting approaches to imparting knowledge about the often complex topic of open access in a game-like way.

The feedback from the participants was consistently positive. Many of them expressed the desire to also use such gamified formats in future training offerings or consultations to make the communication of open-access-related content more accessible and appealing. There is therefore a need for further knowledge exchange and for gamified resources that cover the entire range of topics and consultation scenarios of relevance to open access. Participants also expressed a desire for a central location in which open-access-related games can be found.

Becklas, C., Rücknagel, J., Strauß, H. (2024). Gamification in der Open-Access-Beratung: Ein open-access.network Workshop auf den Open-Access-Tagen 2024. open-access.network. doi.org/10.64395/bw0jv-v5p14.

Dieser Beitrag ist lizenziert unter der Creative Commons Namensnennung 4.0 International Lizenz (CC BY 4.0).