The latest edition of the UP Diliman (UPD) University Library (UL) The Great Infohunt was met with success, drawing over a thousand students from all over the UP System.
Organized and overseen by the UL Information Services and Instruction Section (ISAIS), The Great Infohunt is a UL gamification program to promote and familiarize UP students with the various online database subscriptions available to them. The list of databases includes The New York Times, Science Direct, Taylor and Francis Online, Euromonitor International, Springer Nature Contemporary eJournals, and the Wiley Online Library.
The semester-long game consists of a series of four interactive stories, with each story centered on a specific period in Philippine History: the Spanish colonial period, the first Philippine Republic, the Japanese occupation of the Philippines, and the Martial Law era.
To enter, a student would either register during one of the promotional events or scan a QR code linked to a Google form, which would contain the first story and instructions. Completing the tasks would take a student on a journey through various databases the University is subscribed to.
Participants who complete each story and accompanying tasks earn one raffle entry that will be drawn during The Great Infohunt’s culminating activity. This year, productivity gadgets including laptops, tablets, and printers provided by 13 sponsors were given away as prizes. The culminating activity, which included a lively lecture by renowned historian Ambeth Ocampo, was held on Feb. 12 at the UP Student Union Building.
According to ISAIS head Rizalyn D. Janio, The Great Infohunt was first conceived in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic as a creative way to engage UPD students who had been growing tired of attending endless Zoom classes. The 2025 edition is the third so far.
“Iyong concept, scavenger hunt, hindi siya bago kasi kahit dati pa noong nasa Gonzalez Hall pa kami, laging nagpapa-scavenger hunt iyong mga professor from English 10/13, pero iyong yung idea ng gamification is something new,” she said. From a simple activity for UPD students, The Great Infohunt is now a full-blown program with promotional activities by libraries and participation from students from all over the UP System.