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Many colleges and universities require both undergraduate and graduate students to plan and conduct research as a part of graduation requirements. However, a number of barriers exist for both instructors and students in understanding and conducting research. A small group of, The College at Brockport, instructors who had taught introductory research and research methodology gathered together with librarians as a faculty learning community (FLC) to share information about their instructional methods for teaching research skills. The paper aims to discuss this initiative.

Following an initiative to foster career‐span faculty development, The College at Brockport made a three‐year commitment to implement a variety of topic‐based FLCs beginning in the fall 2008 semester.

Like librarians across the country Brockport librarians have been creating research guides, or “pathfinders,” for decades. The term “pathfinder” was coined in the early 1970s when MIT librarians developed lists of resources and references pertaining to subject disciplines. When LibGuides are marketed, it is not surprising that libraries are quick to adopt this platform to produce pathfinders. LibGuides are chosen because they provide a convenient and simple way to create and update research guides using a live interface, employ web 2.0 technologies in a user‐friendly format, and encourage collaboration.

Based on the evaluative and qualitative feedback the LibGuide has been refined further. It is a guide that will be under modification as more faculty and students use it.

This paper uses co-ownership as a proxy for determining the extent of collaboration on LibGuides in public universities in South Africa.

This is a quantitative study that uses webometrics techniques to establish collaboration on LibGuides among librarians in public universities in South Africa. The LibGuide pages of all public universities in the country are visited. Co-ownership of those LibGuides is established by going through the list of co-owners usually situated on the right-hand side menu bar. The data are divided into 16 Excel spreadsheets, each representing a South African public university with LibGuides.

The results show that only 8.1 per cent or 95 of 1,166 LibGuides are co-owned, whereas in 9.4 per cent (109 of 1,166) of LibGuides, the ownership reverts to the host library, as there are no authors indicated. Only 34 of 95 or 35.8 per cent of co-owned LibGuides are cross-campus or inter-campus collaborations suggesting that there is very little cross-pollination of ideas between different campuses of the same universities in South Africa.

This study will lead to a better understanding of the extent of collaboration between librarians in Africa, generally, but specifically in South Africa. In addition, it poses a challenge to library managers to develop strategies that promote and nurture a culture of collaboration between and among librarians to avoid unnecessary duplication. The recommendations of this study can be used to improve collaboration between and among librarians. The biggest limitation of this study is that it did not look into the attitudes, constraints and impediments of collaboration between and among librarians. This area, however, is recommended for further research.

The implication of these results is that there is a duplication of LibGuides, effort and time across different campuses of the same universities, as some universities have a number of LibGuides on the same subject areas across the institutions. There is very little cross-pollination of ideas between various universities as reflected by a lack of inter-university LibGuides in the country.

Duplication of LibGuides does not assist the users as it only adds to the information overload rather than assisting them by streamlining the information.

This study may well be the first study of its nature in the world. It is the view of the authors that this study will not only close the gap in the literature on LibGuides but also explain the use of Web 2.0 tools in libraries in developing countries as collaboration tools. It will add another perspective to the discourse about the collaboration in library and information science generally. This paper may lead to further research on the collaboration efforts of practising librarians.

This paper seeks to explore the utility of Springshare's LibGuides platform for special collections repositories and to evaluate the collection guides built by Special & Digital Collections at the University of South Florida in LibGuides.

This paper explores how academic libraries have used LibGuides previously and provides a case study that suggests new ways for special collections repositories to make the most of the product.

The simplicity and easy‐to‐update functionality of LibGuides works well for USF's Special & Digital Collections collection guides. The flexible API allowed SDC to embed digital content, enable user comments, advertise events, and measure the impact of various services.

LibGuides provides an intuitive, simple, and cost‐effective method to create dynamic and frequently updated guides to special collections.

This is the first paper to explore the use of LibGuides in a special collections repository.

This paper aims to analyze the intersection of LibGuide authors (producers) and LibGuide users (consumers) at University Library, Cornell University, New York, USA. In consideration of this previous finding, the authors felt it was vital to address the question of how Cornell University Library (CUL) LibGuides can better serve Cornell’s user base. By posing questions such as, “what are authors’ intentions in creating LibGuides” and “how are local users finding, accessing and/or engaging with LibGuides”, this paper hopes to make nuanced recommendations to authors.

This paper addresses two key pieces of data: browser search terms from the Springshare log files and interviews from authors of 20 different LibGuides. The author interviews gave us insight into the purpose, use and marketing of specific library guides for CUL, while browser search terms revealed how our users constructed Internet searches that resulted in that hit on a CUL LibGuide.

Data uncovered in our analysis of affiliated search terms provide great insight into users’ expectations or perception of what they are seeking: 39 per cent of searches performed by affiliated users contained terminology of either the name of the course, the four-digit letter-number code for the course (e.g. ANTH 2300), the name of the professor and the course or some other similar permutation. This suggests that the LibGuides software needs a better way to index institutional courses by number and name, a finding the authors will return to later.

As LibGuides are ephemeral and constantly changing, rather than creating a LibGuides based on the premise of its purpose – course guide, subject guide or other – perhaps, authors should consider how the LibGuide will live online and specifically, what is its life cycle? The longevity of a LibGuide ensures that it will be discovered in some way or another; however, the discovery of outdated material is not the best introduction to these vehicles of information. If LibGuides aim to serve as an unmediated stand-in for librarians, its online life expectancy needs to be considered at the point of creation.

Recommendations for LibGuide authors/producers: place most important content in the first tab (over 50 per cent of hits are to the homepage); minimize the total number of tabs. Fewer tabs are likely to encourage more in-depth browsing and facilitate better discovery of key content; include interactive content in LibGuides, such as assignments and tutorials that increase the use of that LibGuide; identify LibGuides and/or tabs in terms of function – teaching or discovery – within a search environment.

The tension between LibGuides as a teaching tool and LibGuides as an answer to a student’s research is an issue that we should resolve to fix. This tension is often eased in classroom instruction or during mediated interactions at the reference desk or via chat reference. However, in the online environment of LibGuides, librarians must be cognizant that students will often not be seeking the instruction on locating resources but rather will focus on simply locating the resource itself. Course guides might be better served online by pushing the instructional components toward the final tabs and relocating the valuable resource content to the Home tab. Promoting the use of library guides beyond the classroom or the event that they were designed for may not be necessary or desirable; however, as LibGuides have a lengthy life cycle, consideration about how they might meet a user’s online needs is worthwhile.

This paper offers a unique perspective in the use of a common library tool from two points of view: the producers and the consumers of library guides. Too often, people take for granted the idea that they know and understand what librarians and/or library staff do and intend with the creation of LibGuides, without informing our perspective with actual data. The authors realize that the sample size of their interviewee pool was small, but nonetheless, deemed it an essential aspect to consider when evaluating the interaction of library guides or other library content put forth for the constituents we serve. In terms of user research, the authors are in a privileged position given the quantity of attention directed at the consumers of library guides; this study contributes to the conversation by highlighting the rare access people have to the results of unmediated user practices in the information gathering process.

The purpose of this paper is to seek to ascertain how many electronic resource troubleshooting LibGuides are in use and what level of support they tend to provide. LibGuides have become quite popular in academic libraries as a tool for subject and college liaison librarians to deliver library-mediated content to colleges and individual classes. Another promising area for their use is to provide electronic resource troubleshooting support to students and faculty, as well as to other library staff.

A sample of electronic resource troubleshooting LibGuides was obtained through a Google advanced search augmented by additional searches in the limited LibGuides community search utility. These LibGuides were selected according to a standard definition of troubleshooting and were analyzed for content on 36 support variables.

A relatively small number of LibGuides were located, and a thorough treatment of electronic resource access issues was present in only a limited number of the LibGuides found.

While some LibGuides may have gone undiscovered owing to an incomplete search strategy for discovery, subsequent efforts to find overlooked pages were mostly fruitless. The relatively small number of electronic resource troubleshooting LibGuides discovered coupled with their simplicity may indicate that the use of LibGuides platform in this capacity has not gained traction.

While there have been many case studies discussing the use of LibGuides as a subject and course guide platform, relatively few have explored the use of LibGuides outside of their traditional subject-focused implementation, and none have looked at LibGuides as a potential platform to aid in electronic resource access troubleshooting.

The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the process of implementing LibGuides content management system (CMS) eReserves with Blackboard integration to streamline workflow for the end-user and staff workflow.

Based on some of the issues with the existing system, there was a need to improve workflow for the user and staff. The previous course reserve process included a non-automated process. Implementing the LibGuides CMS eReserves module training for circulation staff consisted of in-person instruction and creating a tutorial with step by step directions for staff. The library sent out many email announcements and corresponded with individual faculty members. The authors also worked with the instructional designers for feedback and best practices when developing Blackboard courses, specifically online courses. The authors also developed an information page with a tutorial.

Findings indicate that the LibGuides CMS eReserves module is a success. The quick implementation process and ease of use for end-users and staff have proven to be beneficial. With the launch of the new system in fiscal year: 2013-2014, this revitalized the Seton Hall University eReserves program with a 142 per cent increase in usage. There could be many contributing factors to the increase in usage: the online form, direct links to Blackboard, the increase in online courses, etc. eReserves are up 42 per cent as of April for this year.

At the time of our evaluation, there were no other libraries using the eReserves module. The authors reviewed the literature and found no published articles about LibGuides CMS eReserves module.

The purpose of this paper is to review the LibGuides website that hosts library user guides.

This paper outlines the features and benefits of the LibGuides site, describes how it can be used as a web portal and peruses its hosted content.

LibGuides is a good place to see how different libraries are incorporating Web 2.0 approaches into their library guides.

The familiar library guide still can have a strong impact in the Web 2.0 environment and enhance a library's online presence.

This paper aims to describe current approaches to and assess the value of placing course‐level research guides generated through LibGuides software into Blackboard learning management system (LMS) shells. It also aims to describe the specific technique of such placement in Blackboard Vista and Blackboard Learn shells.

A link to a library assignment made with LibGuides was embedded as a button in the left‐side navigation bar of the Blackboard shell for an undergraduate communications course. A total of 57 student users responded to a survey on their perceptions of this method of accessing library resources.

The paper reveals that students broadly value access to library resources from a convenient and persistently visible link within their course shell. They demonstrate a strong inclination to use the embedded library resource link first before using other information sources on the open internet.

The study supports the placement of library research guides in a persistently visible position in LMS course shells and presents specific instructions on doing so. Further, this process requires and promotes coordination among librarians, instructors, and information technology staff.

The paper fills a gap in the current practice and theory of the placement of library research guides in course‐level LMSs. It provides empirical research results on the strong effectiveness of persistently visible embedded links to these guides with a student user survey. The paper also describes the practical procedure for combining the dominant instructional technology programs of LibGuides and both Blackboard Vista and Blackboard Learn.

The purpose of this survey is to find a significant sample of reference resources for electrical engineering as they are presented in subject-specific LibGuides.

The survey is based on a detailed observation and collection of sources designated as Reference Resources in LibGuides, titles found were compiled and organized.

The results are substantial; they offered a body of specialized resources, which includes e-book collections, dictionaries, handbooks, encyclopedias and other resources that are important to electrical engineering students and researchers.

A considerable amount of resources were found; nevertheless, they represent the resources found in a randomly selected sample of LibGuides; therefore, the result is limited to the group of libraries selected.

The results of this survey are valuable to subject librarians interested in comparing resources with a pool of libraries and to discover titles that can be of interest to their collections.

The work is original, as this is the first paper publishing the results of a survey of electrical engineering guides.