Snakes or Ladders? Evaluating a LibGuides Pilot at UCD Library

(Interesting - time we evaluated our LibGuides???? )

"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."

article in The Journal of Academic Librarianship

2 June 2014

Abstract

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.

Fighting Fat

We are not the only ones who have been putting our Libguides "on diet"! This short article from the Duke Libraries' Instruction and Outreach blog was written by Diane Harvey who was my mentor at Duke University.

Example of LibGuide

Quite a good idea to put the menu on the landing page

http://libguides.uta.edu/content.php?pid=227768&sid=1884348

Information about LibGuides

"LibGuides is a popular content management and knowledge sharing system for Libraries. Over 4,100 librarians at 250 libraries use LibGuides every day to share information and connect with patrons, wherever they are." [http://www.springshare.com/]

At the staff meeting this morning we talked about LibGuides, to which the Library has just started subscribing.

The idea is for information services/faculty librarians/departmental librarians to develop subject guides to replace our present static Subject Gateways which are at:[http://www.ru.ac.za/library/electronic_resources/dept/index.html].

The new LibGuides will be dynamic and interactive (e.g. users can make comments, contact their subject librarian, link to webpages/site/videos/feeds, etc.). We hope that this new service will prove useful in connecting users with information and information sources.

We are presently in the process of setting up the access to LibGuides (with the IT Divisoin). Once this happens LibGuides will be linked to the Library webpage and we can start develooping the Guides. This will obviously be a learning process as we become familiar with the functionality and possibilities. Please have a look at the examples of what other libraries are doing with LibGuides and give us your suggestions for RUL.

See a collection of examples and more information about LibGuides at:
http://del.icio.us/aloeferox/LibGuides