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LibGuides Best Practices: Creating Guides

This is a guide and style manual for Alkek Library Staff to use when creating and editing LibGuides.

Course Guide Template

Creating Guides

Creating a Course Guide

Each course guide will be unique and will be developed by the librarian based on the request of the faculty member and the needs of the course.

  1. Choose Start Fresh or Copy Layout/Content from existing guide
  2. Select one of the available templates to apply to this guide.
  3. Guide Name: follow naming conventions below
  4. Guide Description: follow description guidelines below
  5. Choose Guide Type: Course Guide
  6. Choose Group Assignment: Course Guide
  7. Create Guide

course guide example

Naming Conventions, Description, Subjects, Friendly URLs & Tags for Course Guides

Naming Conventions

  • Course Name (Official 3 or 4 letter abbreviation)(colon)(space) Course Title
    • Example: ENG 1320: College Writing II

Description 

  • This course guide was created for + Instructor's first and last name and title + course name and course title + class. 
    • Example: This course guide was created for Laura Ellis-Lai's ENG 1310 (College Writing I) class.

Subjects, Friendly URLs, Tags

  • Add the correct subjects to your guide, by clicking on the edit icon. Choose the “Subject Associations.”  A guide may more than one subject.
    • Ex. English and Course Guide
  • A “friendly URL” helps users remember the address to the guide more easily.  Click on the edit URL icon to give the guide a friendly URL.
    • The format for a course guide friendly URL is course abbreviation/followed by course number
      Example: http://libguides.txstate.edu/eng1320
       
  • Be sure to add descriptive tags, and dates, if applicable. Click on the edit tags icon to add tags to the guide.
    Standard tags for Course Guides are: professor name, course ID name, course subject, any other descriptive subject or discipline tags, course guide (as a tag)

Tabs to Include on a Course Guide

As a result of the unique nature of course guides, the names of tabs and number of tabs within a course guide are left up to the discretion of the librarian who is developing the guide.  There may be some similarity among course guides.  For example, many subject guides may have a tab entitled “Finding Articles” or “Finding Web Resources”, but there is no expectation that course guides will be uniform in terms of the number of tabs and labels for tabs.  These will be determined by the course, discipline, topic, focus, etc. and are at the discretion of the librarian. Tab names should be consistent.

 

It is good to include your lesson plan as a hidden tab on the guide in case you are sick and another librarian picks up the class on short notice.

Creating Subject Guides

Subject Guides are developed by a librarian for a specific Major or Discipline taught at Texas State University and ideally there should be a Subject Guide for every Major or Discipline taught at the university. 

  1. Choose Start Fresh or Copy Layout/Content from existing guide
  2. Select one of the available templates to apply to this guide.
  3. Guide Name: follow naming conventions below
  4. Guide Description: follow description guidelines below
  5. Choose Guide Type: Subject Guide
  6. Choose Group Assignment: Subject Guide
  7. Create Guide

Naming Conventions, Description, Subjects, Friendly URLs & Tags for Subject Guides

Naming Conventions

  • Subject Corresponding to Texas State University Departments & Majors
    • Example:Sociology

Description 

  • This subject guide was created to support research in major or discipline 
    • Example: This subject guide was created to support research in accounting.

Subjects, Friendly URLs, Tags

  • Add the correct subjects to your guide, by clicking on the edit icon. Choose the “Subject Associations.”  A guide may more than one subject.
    • Ex. Accounting
  • A “friendly URL” helps users remember the address to the guide more easily.  Click on the edit URL icon to give the guide a friendly URL.
  • Be sure to add descriptive tags, and dates, if applicable. Click on the edit tags icon to add tags to the guide.
    Standard tags for Subject Guides are: major or discipline

 

Tabs to Include on a Subject Guide

Subject guides should have the following tabs (pages):

 

  • Home
  • Search Strategies - should be both basic and advanced; can also be two tabs
  • Finding Books - can include reference books, catalog search widget, CREDO, etc.
  • Finding Articles - information about Periodical List
  • Suggested Databases
  • Web Resources
  • Career & Job Resources

Note: Some disciplines may include additional tabs such as finding statistics, tests & measurements, etc.

Creating Special Topics Guides

Special Topics Guides focus on a special topic, event, collection, or as a companion to a workshop or presentation. It is intended to highlight, inform, and compliment events and outreach initiatives. Special Topics Guides are usually developed in response to an event, workshop, or to highlight a special collection.

 

  1. Choose Start Fresh or Copy Layout/Content from existing guide
  2. Select one of the available templates to apply to this guide.
  3. Guide Name: follow naming conventions below
  4. Guide Description: follow description guidelines below
  5. Choose Guide Type: Special Topics Guides
  6. Choose Group Assignment: Special Topics Guides
  7. Create Guide

special topics

 

Naming Conventions, Description, Subjects, Friendly URLs & Tags for Special Topics Guides

Follow best practices for LibGuides when creating Special Topics Guides. Incorporate all of the following but there is more flexibility with Special Topics Guides.

 

Naming Conventions

For recurring Special Topics guides like the Common Experience, consistency is key.

Description 

Subjects, Friendly URLs, Tags

 

Tabs to Include on a Special Topics Guide

Special Topics guides will vary depending on whether or not they are related to an event, a recurring theme, etc.