A Documentation of the Dickson Mounds Museum David Friedman, Aki Akhauri, and Judith Pintar PhD. INTRODUCTION – ORIGINAL PROJECT: The Illinois Map (ILMap) seeks to elucidate the histories, experiences, and current attitudes of the minority populations of Illinois using the empathic game design principles laid out by Belman et al [1]. The goal of the ILMap project is to create an accessible platform which will bring Illinois history, research, and computer science to life for a wide variety of users. Using the language Inform, an interactive text platform, the undergraduate students of the fall 2016 Mapping Inequalities course at the University of Illinois developed the first large-scale simulation for ILMap, the Dickson Mounds Museum simulation (DMMS). The result of the endeavor was something of a vague model for the technical mechanics and content of the DMMS. The designers were leaning towards a simulation which focused on three main stages of Dickson Mounds history: the pre-European and pre- Dickson Mounds Native Americans, the discovery and construction of Dickson Mounds Museum, and finally the relatively recent Dickson Mounds controversy over Native sovereignty rights. The game lacked many details about the museum, and possibly even contained inaccurate and contradictory accounts of places because the designers did not have direct experience or sufficient supplemental knowledge of the museum. The game also lacked consistent, intentional application of empathic game design principles. After reflecting on this ground zero version of the DMMS, Prof. Pintar, in conjunction with two student designers, decided to explore the possibility that visiting Dickson Mounds Museum could greatly enhance the DMMS. It was hoped that the endeavor would not only allow student designers to build an accurate simulation, but would also provide details about the history of the Dickson Mounds museum. One way this would be done is through the interviews of Dr. Wiant director Illinois State Museum and Dr. Alan Harn a friend of the late Dr. Dickson and longtime employee of Dickson Mounds Museum. Both of these men experienced the Dickson Mounds controversy first hand, and both exist as characters in the DMMS. Additionally, the students should gather comprehensive details about the museum itself and the surrounding landmarks including pictures, maps, and written accounts. RESULTS – THE DICKSON MOUNDS MUSEUM: The weekend of April 21st, 2017 was the planned date for the Dickson Mounds Museum trip; the two students (David Friedman and Aki Akhauri) travelled to Lewistown that Friday and immediately set to work at the museum. It is located along the spoon river in western Illinois on the Emiquon nature preserve, a swampy and hillock filled break from the monotonous, flat farm land; it struck the researchers that this transition from farm land to restored swamp land was an essential character of DM that no one had captured in the simulation. Upon entering the museum, many other previously unknown features of Dickson Mounds were discovered. For example, the museum is intended to guide visitors through a story of the emiquon preserve starting from the top floors of the museum down to the first floor where the entrance is located. With the consent of the Dickson Mounds Museum, pictures were taken of exhibits and maps made of the three floors as well as some of the archeological sites close to the museum. Anecdotal accounts were also made by the students about their experiences, in order give future readers a sense of the atmosphere in each space. Unfortunately, Dr. Wiant and Dr. Harn could not be interviewed while the researchers were at the museum, however, one of the curators Dr. Michael Conner was present to answer questions. He had been working at Dickson Mounds for around 10 years and had worked on some of the excavations of local burial mounds. He also frequently leads tours of the museum for groups of all sizes and ages. Although he missed the field archeology work, he felt the protections that had been put in place for these sacred sites were necessary. The students also visited down town Lewistown and Havana in search of more burial mounds or local places that would be worthwhile to include in the simulation. Several were found including the Eveland, Havana, and Ogden-Fetti sites; others, such as the Larson site were sought but not found. DISCUSSION & FUTURE WORKS: Many details about Dickson Mounds and the surrounding sites were gathered including pictures, several maps, and anecdotal reports. It is possible that another attempt will be made to interview Dr. Wiant, Dr. Harn, and others as a follow up to the Dickson Mounds Museum visit. The materials gathered from this trip will be used during the fall 2017 semester Mapping Inequalities class to revise and add to the DMMS. During this process the real value of these materials will be seen, as will the deficiencies of the material. By the end of the semester, a guide should be written discussing the visiting of locations and methods for gathering appropriate information for the creation of simulations. It is especially unclear what application these details will have within the empathic game design principles. Most of the work with these principles will come from the story and perspective told throughout the simulation by developers; however, without clear context within the game it can be difficult to produce believable story elements, never mind empathy within the user. At the very least these materials should solidify the geography of the Dickson Mounds Museum grounds, provide pictures of the environment of native peoples, and eliminate confusing contradictions from the simulation world. Additionally, these materials will eventually be published on the ILMap website to aid contributors in meeting the standards of quality and accuracy expected by ILMap; ultimately, providing a pathway for creating high quality contributions. It was also noted by the student visitors that the Dickson Mounds Museum, like many institutions, has suffered considerably from budget shortfalls, understaffing, and possibly even lack of awareness in the public. The researchers realize that ILMap has the potential to bring awareness of these valuable institutions and places to the public, and hope to use the ILMap to encourage users to explore these locations outside of the online platform. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to thank Prof. Judith Pintar for her ideas and mentorship which drove this project. The authors also thank the staff of the Dickson Mounds Museum for their gracious support of the student research team while visiting the museum. Finally, this research was supported, in part, by a grant from the Office of Undergraduate Research, and the authors thank them for making this research possible. REFERENCES [1] Belman, Jonathan. Flanagan, Mary. “Designing Games to Foster Empathy.” Cognitive Technology, vol. 14, no. 2, 2009, pp 5-15. .