Digging for digitized treasure
The second McGill University Treasure Hunt on the Web has come and gone. Close to 3,000 students, staff, graduates and Web surfers took part in the colourful trivia contest, and the names of some of the game's winners have just been posted on McGill's homepage (ww2.mcgill.ca).
The game was designed to be informative and fun. Contestants had to correctly answer 10 randomly generated multiple choice queries about McGill's research projects, academic programs and history. If they were stuck for an answer, they were pointed to a McGill web site containing the information they needed.
Karl Jarosiewicz, McGill's Web editor, says the game was put together with students in mind. "Young people may not be reading newspapers," Jarosiewicz argues. "The Web is a primary source of information for them." By participating in the treasure hunt, it was hoped that students considering studies at McGill would discover the wealth of knowledge and resources that are available at McGill and either apply there, or register if they had already been accepted.
Using the Internet as a marketing tool is a relatively recent move for universities, says Jarosiewicz. In fact, according to Anne Roussell, director of the Recruitment and Liaison Office, McGill is the first institution to come up with a game like the treasure hunt.
The University Relations Office and RLO organized the hunt, while the McGill Bookstore, the McGill Computer Store, the McGill Associates, the Faculty Club, ACC Telecom, the Department of Athletics, the Chateau Versailles and the Holiday Inn contributed prizes. The Computing Centre's Ron Hall and URO's Eric Smith worked on the coding and design for the game.
File from Michael Dobie
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