ScholCom 202X is an interactive fiction game about being a scholarly communication librarian. The project was funded by part of an IMLS grant through the Scholarly Communication Notebook.
In ScholCom 202X, you'll take on the role of a new scholarly communication librarian at a small public university somewhere in the US in the "distant future" of the year 202X.
You'll be given a number of scenarios derived from activities and questions a real scholarly communication librarian might expect to receive. These scenarios fall into four general areas: copyright; publishing; institutional repositories; and open access.
The game has two versions, an interactive fiction format written in Ink (located in the "Ink source" and "playable" folders) and a static PDF version (in "printables").
In the interactive fiction version, after reading each scenario you'll be given a chance to consult your "augment," a smartphone-like device which contains a very brief annotated list of some relevant sources and a calendar that tracks how busy you are. In the PDF/print version, these sources are listed below the scenario text, and are open access whenever possible.
After you've read the scenario text and consulted these sources (or not), put yourself in the place of the librarian in the game and think about how you would respond. Would you try to help just the person you're currently talking to, or would you rather build resources and develop strategies that could make the question easier to answer the next time it comes up, and potentially even reach and educate people who don't know the questions to ask in the first place?
As you think through each scenario, ask yourself how you would balance the desire to do a good job against the threat of overwork. You're welcome to write out what you would do, or just think about it. The PDF versions of the scenarios can also be used to role play in a classroom setting, with one student taking on the role of the librarian and another the role of the person who needs their help.
This project was made possible through a generous stipend from the Scholarly Communication Notebook, an online repository of open educational resources hosted by North Carolina State University and funded by a grant from the IMLS.
Thanks to Will Cross, Josh Bolick, and Maria Bonn for their support of this project!
To use ScholCom 202X, you can download the printable or playable files from the relevant directories of this repository. Printable files are in PDF format, while running the index.html file on your local machine will allow you to play the web version in a browser.
You can also play the web browser version of the game without downloading anything by going to the Schol Com 202X page on my website.
In the fictional world of ScholCom 202X, the default pronouns are they/them, and Mx. (as opposed to Mr., Mrs., or Ms.) is the default form of address. In ScholCom 202X, it's considered rude to assume someone's pronouns. It's only when you have information about a person's pronouns that you can switch to something else — and in some cases, they/them is still correct.
In the real world, things are more complicated than that, and using they/them to refer to everyone is not recommended. However, you still shouldn't assume people's gender identity, and asking people about their pronouns — or offering up your own when you introduce yourself — is an inclusive, welcoming habit.
If you're not familiar with they/them pronouns, or with the idea of pronouns and identity in general, Shige Sakurai maintains an excellent set of resources at myprounouns.org
The text of this game, as presented in the Printables folder, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ — Work creator: Stewart Baker
The copyright and other intellectual properties related to the text of the game resides with North Carolina State University.
The intellectual property of all Ink code and JS/CSS/HTML files in this repository are held by Inkle and released under an MIT license. Please see Inkle's license in the Ink GitHub repository for more details.