LibGuide Practices: Research & Resources

• Accessibility for LibGuides

  While system-generated content in LibGuides like navigation is designed to be accessible, users are responsible for making sure their guide content and customizations also adhere to accessibility standards. This session covers common accessibility issues and best practices as well as how to use freely available testing tools to check your site.
• Adding a Featured Box to LibGuides Templates

  In this bite sized training session, we look at add a featured box to homepage and guide templates. The box is maintained on a reusable content guide and can feature important information, new books, or anything else you'd like!
• Best Practices: Building a Style / Reusable Content Guide

  This session gives an overview of how to create a Storage / Reusable Content Guide and a Style Guide in LibGuides. We discuss what sort of content you may want to make available for reuse and the benefits of having it all in one central location.
• Best Practices for Images & Gallery Boxes

  Learn how to resize your images, use the right alt-text, build an impressive Gallery Box and more!
• Best Practices for Resources Icons in LibGuides

  Resource icons can be used for databases and other assets to indicate the resource type or features and even link to additional information. Learn how to build icons that match your services and are easy to interpret, and how to provide additional info with them.
• Best Practices for Starting a LibGuide

  Learn how to work with guides, with a focus on layout and readability.
• Build-a-LibGuide: How to do it

  In this Build-a-guide session, we'll show you how to create a step-by-step help guide for online resources. Have a difficult to use database? Want to give database search tips? This is the session for you!
• Build-a-LibGuide: Online Resources

  Your library's online resources likely represent a large part of your materials budget. Make sure your library patrons know how to use your online resources with a guide!
• Build-a-LibGuide: Promote Your Library Services

  Go beyond research and subject guides and create a guide to promote your library's services. Whether your library offers traditional services such as research assistance and interlibrary loans, or offers services to the wider community such as passport applications, Writing Center appointments and English classes, learn how to create a guide that explains all that your library offers.
• Build-a-LibGuide: Subject or Course Guide

  In this session, we will show you how to create a subject or class guide. We'll discuss how to structure your guides and show some great examples from the LibGuides Community. This session assumes a base knowledge of LibGuides. If you are new to LibGuides we recommend that you watch or attend the Building Your First LibGuide session prior to this one.
• Build a Reading List - Advanced Tips

  We look at some more advanced options to create a Reading List. From Gallery Boxes to Google Fonts to creating focused book pages. This session has some tips for everyone.
• Creating a Landing Page for Services in LibGuides

  In this session, we will examine using columns to help users navigate the services and resources provided by your library. We’ll show how to create a page for a specific patron group and highlight your holdings to meet specific patron needs. This is a great session to help centralize your services and make access easier for your patrons.
• Designing a Website Your Patrons Will Love

  In this webinar, you will learn about best practices in industry design standards and hear a case study from Haliburton County Public Library on progressive UX design implementations. You’ll also be introduced to tools and practices that help you understand how your patrons use your site, and how that data can best be used to inform future design choices.
• Enhancing Design with Gallery Boxes in LibGuides

  Images can add much value to your LibGuides, helping to highlight collections, showcase services, and more! Gallery Boxes are a simple way to beautifully organize visual content. We will look at creating templates for images in Canva. If you don't have a free account in Canva, consider creating one before the session.
• Using Gallery Boxes to Create a Grid

  In this brief session, we will show you how to create graphics and add a Gallery Box to create an options grid.

• OCLC: Shaping the Library to the Life of the User (2015)

  The article "Shaping the Library to the Life of the User" by Merrilee Proffitt, James Michalko, and Melissa Renspie discusses how libraries can better support users by adopting user-centered designs based on ethnographic methods. It emphasizes the need for libraries to adapt, empower, partner, and engage with users to enhance library services and ensure they align with user needs​.
• Mixed Methods Not Mixed Messages: Improving LibGuides with Student Usability Data (2017)

  The article "Mixed Methods Not Mixed Messages: Improving LibGuides with Student Usability Data" by Nora Almeida and Junior Tidal discusses a study at the New York City College of Technology. It explores student preferences for research guide design and learning modalities, translating findings into practical design principles to enhance LibGuides usability​.
• Exploratory Usability Testing of User Interface Options in LibGuides 2 (2017)

  The article "Exploratory Usability Testing of User Interface Options in LibGuides 2" by Sarah Thorngate and Allison Hoden details a study comparing different user interface options in LibGuides 2. The study focuses on how the number of columns, navigation menu placement, and visual integration with the library website affect usability, aiming to enhance the user experience and support student learning effectively​.
• Using Instructional Design Principles and User-Centered Studies to Develop Best Practices (2019)

  "LibGuides by Design: Using Instructional Design Principles and User-Centered Studies to Develop Best Practices" by Bergstrom-Lynch (2019) integrates instructional design principles with user studies to enhance LibGuide effectiveness, using the ADDIE model for continuous improvement​
• Successful Campus Outreach for Academic Libraries- Building Community through Collaboration (2019)

  "Successful Campus Outreach for Academic Libraries: Building Community through Collaboration," edited by Peggy Keeran and Carrie L. Forbes, explores various academic library outreach strategies. It covers strategic planning, program development, community engagement, and expanding outreach to diverse audiences​.
• Navigation Design and Library Terminology: Findings from a User-Centered Usability Study on a Library Website (2020)

  "Navigation Design and Library Terminology: Findings from a User-Centered Usability Study on a Library Website" (2020) outlines improvements for a library website, including topic-based navigation and simplified terminology based on user feedback​.
• Student-Centered Design: Creating LibGuides Students Can Actually Use (2021)

  The article "Student-Centered Design: Creating LibGuides Students Can Actually Use" (2021) by Amy E.G. Barker and Ashley T. Hoffman details a study at Kennesaw State University where librarians employed card sorting and usability testing with students to develop effective subject guides. This research aims to improve guide design by aligning with student preferences and usability data, offering actionable insights for other libraries.
• Streaming Access in a Fractured World: Designing LibGuides with Student Users in Mind (2021)

  "Streaming Access in a Fractured World: Designing LibGuides with Student Users in Mind" (2021) discusses challenges in providing streaming media access due to financial and logistical constraints, emphasizing user-centered design in LibGuides to enhance student experience.
• What is a Library Website, Anyway? Reconsidering Dominant Conceptual Models (2021)

  The article "What is a Library Website, Anyway? Reconsidering Dominant Conceptual Models" (2021) by Amy McLay Paterson discusses the exploration of different conceptual models of library websites at Thompson Rivers University, following a multi-phase usability study interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The study highlights models such as the website as a research portal, an extension of the physical library, and as a library branch, analyzing their implications on structure and resource allocation.
• Managing Your Library's LibGuides: Conducting a Usability Study to Determine Student Preference for LibGuide Design (2023)

  The article "Managing Your Library's LibGuides: Conducting a Usability Study to Determine Student Preference for LibGuide Design" (2023) discusses how a usability study identified student preferences for LibGuide designs. It highlights the need for student-centric templates to improve consistency and user proficiency across all guides​.
• More than a Decade Later: Library Web Usability Practices at ARL Academic Libraries in 2007 and 2020 (2023)

  The article "More than a Decade Later: Library Web Usability Practices at ARL Academic Libraries in 2007 and 2020" (2023) compares web usability practices over time, highlighting decreased emphasis on usability testing and increased resources needed for web initiatives, suggesting integration of usability into strategic priorities​.
• User Experience Research Techniques Facilitate Improvement for Access and Discovery Tools Managed by Technical Services Librarians (2023)

  The article "User Experience Research Techniques Facilitate Improvements for Access and Discovery Tools Managed by Technical Services Librarians" (2023) explores how user experience research methods can enhance library access and discovery tools. It details a case study involving usability tests and interface comparisons at the University of North Carolina Greensboro, demonstrating how such techniques can inform technical services and improve tool design to better meet user needs​.
• Redesigning Online Library Spaces Using LibGuides CMS (2023)

  The article "Redesigning Online Library Spaces Using LibGuides CMS" (2023) by Elizabeth Jones and Kara Oxendine details the University of North Carolina–Pembroke's redesign of its library website. The redesign process, completed in five months, focused on improving user experience through the flexible and user-friendly LibGuides CMS platform, enhancing content organization, accessibility, and overall functionality​.
• Redesigning Research Guides: Lessons Learned from Usability Testing at the University of Memphis (2023)

  The article "Redesigning Research Guides: Lessons Learned from Usability Testing at the University of Memphis" (2023) details how usability testing informed the redesign of research guides to improve navigation, user experience, and information accessibility for students​.
• LibGuides as Outreach: Creating Research Guides About and for Diverse Communities (2023)

• Creating Student-Centered Alternative to Research Guides: Develop the Infrastructure to Support Novice Learners (2020)

  This research highlights the need to revamp research guides to provide pedagogical support and information literacy skills, enhancing usability for students at a southwestern U.S. university.
• NYU LibGuide Accessibility: Gallery & Tabbed Boxes

  A comprehensive resource for achieving digital accessibility best practice for NYU Libraries Research Guides.
• 7 Principles of Universal Design, Centre for Excellence in Universal Design

  The webpage details the seven principles of Universal Design, which aim to create inclusive, usable environments and products for diverse abilities. These principles include equitable use, flexibility, simplicity, perceptibility, tolerance for error, low physical effort, and appropriate size and space for use.
• University of Washingtion: What is Universal Design?

  Universal design creates products accessible to everyone, regardless of abilities. It emphasizes flexibility, simplicity, and perceptibility, reducing the need for adaptations or assistive technology.
• Harvard Library: Accessibility Best Practices

  This webpage offers best practices for creating accessible research guides, emphasizing closed captioning, transcripts, alt text, meaningful links, and HTML headings to enhance usability for all users.
• LibGuides Standards and Best Practices: Responsive Design & You

  This webpage outlines best practices for responsive design in creating library guides. It emphasizes flexible layouts, content placement, and ensuring accessibility across various devices.