Library Subject Guides Research Articles

Exploring the Expectations and Preferences of Health Sciences Library Subject Guides Users

Using survey methodology, this study aimed to explore and describe health sciences library users’ subject guide expectations and preferences. Respondents showed an overwhelming lack of familiarity with the guides and expressed a preference for quick and easy access links as the most important feature. Most respondents also appeared to want some guidance about which resources to use within the guides, but less extensive learning or instructional content. The results of this study will inform both future guide development and research on best practices.

Academic Library COVID-19 Subject Guides

ABSTRACT This study reviewed the coronavirus (COVID-19) resources available on the Times Higher Education top 50 research universities websites. Both general coronavirus resource pages and library subject guides dedicated to the pandemic were examined. The results were compiled into a list of 416 links which were then analyzed. The most common content creators (publishers/authors) were (1) government departments and agencies, (2) academic publishers, (3) international and nonprofit organizations, and (4) universities. The most common types of resources included (1) scholarly article collections (publisher databases or preprint collections), (2) consumer health information, (3) data sets including data maps, and (4) media resources. The examination of library subject guides and university COVID-19 resource pages revealed opportunities for collaboration with other university units in the creation of resource lists for different audiences and the creation of information literacy resources with an emphasis on data literacy.

Employing Analytics to Guide a Data-Driven Review of LibGuides

ABSTRACTThis article presents a methodology for conducting an evidence-based review of LibGuides content based on native and non-native analytics data. This methodology uses built-in analytics data from Springshare's platform and data from Google Analytics to investigate LibGuides functionality, use, and design criteria. These criteria, in turn, enable a strategic consideration of how and why we as librarians create LibGuides. Are our guides intended to facilitate reference and research consultations, or do they primarily serve to enable independent research by students? More specifically, who benefits the most from the LibGuides we generate—librarians or researchers? We conclude with a consideration of how analytics data can be leveraged to generate librarian buy-in for reevaluating design criteria of library subject guides and consider implications for practice and further research in this area.

Guiding Librarians: Rethinking Library Guides as a Staff Development Tool

Library subject guides assist students and researchers with accessing and understanding the key resources for their subject or topic areas. From the perspective of academic institutions, subject guides showcase the key subscribed (and open access) resources available to support teaching, learning and research. They are common across university libraries but there is limited research on the benefits library guides may provide librarians themselves, especially in gaining resource knowledge during the creation and maintenance of these guides. This paper proposes the idea that library guides can also function as a staff development tool for the librarians who create and maintain them, based on the results of two surveys undertaken in late 2016 and early 2017. Results reveal the majority of respondents believe that creating library guides have improved their own knowledge of subject resources. Based on our findings, we believe that further research is required on the various techniques librarians use to gain resource knowledge, and the role that subject guides have in this process.

Snakes or Ladders? Evaluating a LibGuides Pilot at UCD Library

Online subject guides are commonly used by libraries to provide information support to students. LibGuides (a cloud-based commercial product launched in 2007) represents one of the latest incarnations of the traditional subject guide or portal, and are widely used across American academic libraries. In Ireland however, library subject guides of entirely local design and hosted on a local web server still dominate.This paper outlines the project management process involved in implementing a LibGuides pilot at University College Dublin Library, including the planning, design and implementation of a new range of subject-related guides. The pilot nature of the project necessitated a strong focus on evaluation, particularly in assessing the effectiveness and suitability of LibGuides as a platform for delivering information literacy support, both from an administrative and end-user perspective. A two-stranded approach was used in this review process, incorporating quantitative web statistics and analytics alongside qualitative feedback from students, academic staff and Library staff.Feedback that was gathered suggested that the LibGuides subject guides were generally viewed very positively by both staff and students. Notwithstanding this, awareness (as indicated through usage statistics) remained moderate during the pilot, pointing to the importance of the visibility, positioning and promotion of guides.

GIS: an annotated guide to selected resources

PurposeThis article aims to provide an annotated bibliography of some of the geographic information system (GIS) resources, specifically data sets, available to libraries and researchers. Drawing on the collective authors' experience working with the GIS resources, this article aims to help librarians interested in developing and building their GIS collection.Design/methodology/approachA literature review was performed using library databases, as well as consulting various library subject guides on the topic. Idaho State University is home to the GIS Training and Research Center and the university offers Master's degrees in Geographic Information Science and Historical Resources Management; the authors consulted graduate GIS students on resources used in the program.FindingsThere is a large body of literature on GIS. This annotated guide, while not comprehensive, is a solid start to a GIS resources collection.Originality/valueNo other annotated bibliography currently exists for those interested in building a library collection of GIS data sets.

The Zombie Library: books reanimated via QR codes

PurposeThis article aims to provide a comprehensive step by step plan on creating a Zombie Library, a physical collection of e‐books through the use of QR codes. Drawing on the collective authors' experience working with the QR codes creation, this article aims to help librarians interested in promoting e‐book collections and creating QR‐coded Zombie books in their libraries.Design/methodology/approachA literature review was performed using library databases, as well as consulting various online library subject guides on the use of QR codes in libraries. Between November 2011 and October 2012 Idaho State University (ISU) library executed a plan for creating QR codes for a Gale Virtual Reference Library e‐book collection.FindingsThe study found an increased usage of the e‐book collection. The actual physical production of the items was more time‐consuming than originally expected. The Zombie Library project received a lot of support and enthusiasm from the campus community. Plans are being made to expand this project to other e‐book collections and other physical media (posters, bookmarks, etc.). This article combines promoting e‐book collections with physical representations of the e‐book via QR codes.Originality/valueThis article is an inclusive step by step plan for promoting e‐book collections using QR codes.

Library subject guides: A case study of evidence-informed library development

This paper describes the process whereby a university library investigated the value of its subject guides to its users. A literature review and surveys of library staff, library users and other libraries were carried out. Existing library subject guides and those of other higher education libraries were evaluated. The project team reported regularly to the wider library team throughout the year long investigation and made recommendations. The project served to develop the professional skills of the project team, to expand the knowledge of the wider library team and encouraged new ways of thinking about guide provision to users.

Subject Guides: Two Different Libraries, Two Different Approaches

Subject Guides: Two Different Libraries, Two Different Approaches

Using LibGuides to offer library service to undergraduate medical students based on the case-oriented problem solving curriculum model

Research suggests that creating subject guides at the course level increases library use [1]. Switching from a “library-centered” focus to “student-centered” focus, libraries should make subject guides available at the point of need [2] and design them so the content is available where students are working [3]. According to Morris and Del Bosque, “The emergence of Web 2.0 tools and social networking sites has contributed to a renewed interest in subject guides” [4]. LibGuides is web-authoring and -hosting software for publishing library subject guides, web portals, or course guides. This web-hosted software is available from Springshare, a company based in Gansevoort, New York, that develops Web 2.0 applications specifically for libraries. It incorporates Web 2.0 applications such as social bookmarking, really simple syndication (RSS) feeds, and podcasts, and it allows librarians to collaborate with the LibGuides' community. Librarians are able to collect feedback for their guides though polls and ratings, as well as gather detailed usage statistics. LibGuides allows a librarian to access annual usage statistics for each of their published guides. The annual report tracks monthly page and link hits. An analysis of these statistics determines which links and pages users view least and most frequently. This paper reports on a project to assess the usefulness of a web-based research portal, designed using LibGuides software and incorporating the architecture of the medical school curriculum. The portal facilitates use of electronic resources offered by the W. K. Kellogg Health Sciences Library at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada [5].

Letting Students Take the Lead: A User-Centred Approach to Evaluating Subject Guides

Objective – What do students need and want from library subject guides? Options such as Web 2.0 enhancement are now available to librarians creating subject-specific web pages. Librarians may be eager to implement these new tools, but are such add-ons a priority for students? This paper aims to start a dialogue on this issue by presenting the findings of the University of British Columbia (UBC) Library’s Subject Guides Working Group (SGWG), which was tasked with assessing current library subject guides in order to make recommendations for the update and future development of UBC Library subject guides. 
 
 Methods – The working group solicited feedback through a questionnaire that was distributed to undergraduate and graduate students from a variety of disciplines at UBC. The questionnaire included an evaluation of UBC subject guides, as well as guides from other academic libraries that used various platforms such as LibGuides and SubjectsPlus.
 
 Results – Respondents to the student questionnaire indicated that a simple and clean layout was of primary importance. Students also desired succinct annotations to resources and limited page scrolling. Meanwhile, few students identified Web 2.0 features such as rating systems and discussion forums as being important for their needs. The working group used the questionnaire data to create a “Top Ten” list of student recommendations. 
 
 Conclusions – The “Top Ten” list of student recommendations was combined with stakeholder feedback from faculty, liaison librarians and Library Systems and Information Technology representatives to create the SGWG’s final recommendation for subject guide revision and enhancement. For the SGWG these findings called into question the necessity of Web 2.0 technologies within subject guide pages and highlighted the need for further research on the topic of subject guide usability and effectiveness.

Solutions for Subject Guides

The following article describes two libraries' experiences with the implementation of new software packages to deliver timely, accurate and dynamic content via library subject guides. Acadia University in Wolfville, Nova Scotia implemented new subject guides using LibGuides in 2007 and Holland College in Charlottetown, PEI recently launched their new guides in the fall of 2008 using SubjectsPlus.

21st Century Readers' Aids: Past History and Future Directions

ABSTRACT This article provides a brief history of the development of library subject guides (often referred to as pathfinders) from the late 1800s to the present. During this period, subject guides have changed both their focus and format. The needs of academic institutions at the turn of the 20th century were very different than they are today, and technology that was non-existent then has become ubiquitous. Much can be learned from studying the evolution of these important library tools and looking to the future as they mature even further.

Library subject guides: a content management case study at the Open University, UK

PurposeTo share the experiences and challenges faced by the Open University Library (OUL) in developing a content management (CM) system for its subject guides.Design/methodology/approachA summary of multi‐format subject guide production at the OUL is provided to justify the decision to develop a new system for their production using a commercial CM system. A detailed consideration of the design and implementation stages is given before a critical review of the project outcome.FindingsHighlights the complex design and implementation aspects to the project, in part due to the nature of subject guide content itself, and examines the reasons for the CM system delivered not being adopted. Emphasises the importance of CM to future OU applications.Practical implicationsOf interest not only to other academic libraries but to any organisation seeking to organise and publish original material for different audiences in a variety of formats from a single data source.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to document a systematic approach to library subject guide production using a CM system and the associated information management challenges and realities of multi‐format publishing in an academic publishing context.

The Dynamics of Agriculture Subject Guide Access at Kansas State University Libraries

ABSTRACT The Internet has profoundly altered the way library users access information. Academic libraries have responded by creating library instruction tools and subject guides as Web pages. Much effort has been invested in the development of Web-based library guides. It has thus become increasingly important to study the level of subject guide access. Library Web site usage, including subject guide access, forms a valuable output measure in contemporary library service evaluation. Accordingly, this study uses server statistics to analyze subject guide access in an academic science library. The potential use of this study is discussed.

Dynamics of Agriculture Subject Guides Usage at KSU Libraries [Abstract only

Scanning library literature, we found that there were few studies on how online library subject guides were used. One reason may be because librarians have only recently begun to publish their subject guides online. With the start of the new millennium, agriculture librarians, like others, dynamically create, publish, and update an increasing number of subject guides. This paper proposes to analyze browse statistics as a potential source of review and evaluation of web guides. At KSU Libraries, we felt it was germane to review the performance of these significant online resources. We analyzed the browse (web page hits) data of agriculture subject guides for three years (1999-2000 to 2001-2002). Specifically, the subject guide web pages that were selected for this study were those dealing with General Agriculture, Agronomy, Animal Sciences, Entomology, and Plant Pathology. Monthly browse statistics for these web pages were collected and tabulated in an MS Excel spreadsheet. In order to standardize the data across different disciplines, we assumed that the corresponding user groups might have affected the number of browses per web page. Thus, the total number of the supposed user population corresponding to a subject discipline was used to standardize the respective subject guide browses. As the first aspect of data analysis, a randomized complete block analysis was performed to analyze the variance among the mean number of browses of the different subject guides. The results were used to draw inferences about the comparative usage of agriculture subject guides. The second aspect was a study on the fluctuation of browses with respect to time. For this, monthly data were plotted on a graph. The results of both of these studies will be presented as part of this contributed paper. In addition to discussing the conclusions of this study, the authors will propose their vision on the use of web guide statistics as a prospective review tool. The possible role of marketing the agriculture web pages will also be discussed. It is our hope that dialogue among USAIN participants will shed more light on the use of web browse statistics of agriculture subject guides.

Library subject guides: their role in student instruction

Library subject guides: their role in student instruction