Kari Kozak, head librarian at the Lichtenberger Engineering Library at the University of Iowa, was awarded the 2019 Engineering Library Division Best Poster Award for her non-traditional, interactive poster Tuesday, June 18, 2019, during the American Society of Engineering Education Annual Conference in Tampa, Florida.

The conference paper was associated with the poster for an augmented reality scavenger hunt in which students help a cartoon detective make the perfect cup of coffee while learning about the library’s resources in a fun, engaging way. The scavenger hunt was created using video creation software (GoAnimate), a software app (HP Reveal), and text messaging triggers (SpringShare’s LibChat). To begin the scavenger hunt, students downloaded the HP Reveal app and saved the library’s text message number in their phones. They then helped the cartoon detective find a book about coffee beans and making the perfect cup of coffee, scanned a new coffee cup on the 3-D scanners, searched for an article about optimum coffee temperature, and checked out a thermal imaging camera to monitor the coffee temperature. The last step was to stop by the Kozak’s office to pick up a travel coffee mug for completing the search. 

The hunt was first used during fall 2018 orientation and again at the end of the fall 2018 semester as part of a class assignment. This scavenger hunt walked the new students through all parts of the library, informed them of the library’s text message number, services, and resources, and gave them a chance to have fun along the way.

For more information, go to https://www.asee.org/public/conferences/140/papers/26963/view.