Game On: Learning Digital Skills Through Collaborative Game Development
Ellie O’Leary Francesca Mackenzie Lotte Wijsman Sharon McMeekin Susanne van den Eijkel
This tutorial is aimed at those who are new to digital preservation (although all skill levels are welcome), and wish to gain more technical skills, particularly in relation to coding. These skills are becoming increasingly important to digital preservation, with “Computer Programming” listed as one of the skill elements in the Digital Preservation Coalition’s (DPC) Competency Framework. For those new to these skills, it can be intimidating and difficult to know where to start. The popularity of the Bits and Bots and BitCurator/DPC Python study groups are evidence of this. The contributors to this tutorial are drawn from the leadership of both programs, and have witnessed first-hand the strong desire for coding skills amongst practitioners. This tutorial aims to be a first step in their coding journey for practitioners who attend.
 
Participants will collaborate in groups to create a game centered around the theme of digital preservation. In the process, they will learn basic coding skills and will finish with their own interactive text based game on a shareable website. Prompts, ideas, templates and sub themes will be provided to help participants create their game. This will also have the secondary benefits of allowing participants to consider digital preservation from a different perspective, and to gain a better understanding of how websites are built and work, knowledge that will help them make more informed preservation decisions about web content.
The collaborative nature of the tutorial on the conference's first day presents an opportunity for participants to kick off iPRES 2024 in a fun and social way, connecting with colleagues worldwide. Sharing experiences in digital preservation often proves to be the most valuable learning experience, and this tutorial is designed to foster such knowledge exchange among participants.
 
**Tutorial outcomes**
By the end of the tutorial, participants will have: 
-Fundamental coding skills 
-Basic knowledge of HTML and CSS 
-Awareness of how tools can be used to develop interactive web content 
-A game they can share and/or continue to develop (further building their skills) 
-Gained a new perspective/level of understanding of digital preservation
-Made new connections with fellow practitioners
information technology for dp start 2 preserve