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The purpose of this paper is to report on the content management solution for 50 subject guides maintained by librarian subject specialists at the University of Nevada, Reno Libraries.

The Web Development Librarian designed an SQL Server database to store subject guide content and wrote ASP.Net scripts to generate dynamic web pages. Subject specialists provided input throughout the process. Hands‐on workshops were held the summer before the new guides were launched.

The new method has successfully produced consistent but individually customized subject guides while greatly reducing maintenance time. Simple reports reveal the association between guides and licensed resources. Using the system to create course‐specific guides would be a useful follow‐up project. Skills learned in training workshops should be refreshed at regular intervals to boost confidence and introduce changes in the system.

The advantages of centralizing content and separating it from presentation cannot be overstated. More consistency and less maintenance is just the beginning. Once accomplished, a library can incorporate Web 2.0 features into the application by repurposing the data or modifying the ASP.Net template. The now‐organized data is clean and ready to migrate to web services or next‐generation research guides when the time is right.

This paper uniquely reports on an SQL Server, ASP.Net solution for managing subject guides. SQL Server includes data management features that increase application security and ASP.Net offers built‐in functionality for manipulating and presenting data. Utmost attention was given to creating simple user interfaces that enable subject specialists to create complex web pages without coding HTML.

To share the experiences and challenges faced by the Open University Library (OUL) in developing a content management (CM) system for its subject guides.

A 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.

Highlights 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.

Of 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.

This 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.

Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Tenn. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.

This study aims to assess current academic library services to theater students through an examination of online research guides.

This study uses a representative sample of 100 universities that offer theater degrees; the library website at each of these institutions is examined for the existence of a theater research guide. Each research guide was analyzed in depth.

The vast majority of the universities in the sample did create research guides for theater students, though the contents of these guides varied greatly. The study highlights findings including popular databases and journals for theater students, as well as media resources and common subjects for subsections or course guides.

This study only examined a sample of 100 institutions; many theater research guides were not examined for this study. Additionally, analysis of online content is a time-specific endeavor: a guide may look significantly different from one month to the next, though the recommendations in this article might prove useful even if the sites at these institutions have since been updated.

Through an examination of a great number of guides, a few practical suggestions emerge for librarians looking to create theater research guides, such as highlighting playscripts and other print materials and including hyperlocal information (such as university production history).

Though several studies have been performed on research guides in various disciplines, this article is the first on those to theater students.

This paper aims to indicate that library guides seem to be unfamiliar to most students or not easy to find or use. Some improvements have been made by embedding the guides in the learning management system or promoting the guides in formal library instructional classes. Are there other ways to promote or improve the use of library guides? The author proposes an exploratory visual solution to minimize this gap between library users and library guides.

Guided by the cognitive load theory, the proposed solution is a knowledge map created with Freeplane. The proposal is illustrated by comparing a sample knowledge map with its content source, a subject guide in LibGuides, via three browsing paths in locating a recommended database for a particular course on the sample subject guide website.

The knowledge map can display contents in different ways and provide a simple and visual layout with direct access to the library resources, which may help lessen users’ intrinsic cognitive load, minimize extraneous load or promote germane load. The map can also be beneficial to librarians for preparing teaching materials or guides management.

The proposed solution can be implemented with Freeplane based on existing library guides or created from scratch.

The proposed solution addresses a gap in the library field, where the use of knowledge maps for library services is overlooked.

Most academic libraries make subject or research guides available on their web sites. Little is known, however, in terms of user satisfaction with guides. This study examines methods used to evaluate guides and reports on an online survey placed on each of more than 80 web‐based guides provided by Gelman Library, George Washington University.

The survey, borrowing an approach used by Amazon.com and other web sites, consisted of a single question – Was this guide useful – and a comments box.

Two hundred ten responses were received during Fall semester 2003. Fifty two percent of responses rated guides as Very Helpful or Somewhat Helpful, while 40 percent gave ratings of Not Helpful or a Little Helpful.

Although limited in scope, this simple survey revealed positive elements of the guides and identified problems that could be addressed immediately. The survey also helped to identify larger issues that will benefit from additional user input.

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 provide a review of the literature on pathfinders, from the 1970s to the present.

The paper reviews a range of publications which describe the methodology of pathfinders, provide practical advice and information, present research results, to aid librarians and library administrators in how to best manage the production and marketing of pathfinders.

It was found that not much has been written on pathfinders. A few articles on traditional pathfinders were published between 1972 and 1995. In 1996, the electronic format took over. Most of the articles are of a practical nature although some describe empirical research. One void in the literature that has been found is librarians' lack of knowledge of users' needs and preferences. This results in much time and effort being dedicated to the production of pathfinders but without any consideration of users, thus discouraging them from using the available resources.

This paper will be a useful source of information for librarians. It provides an overview of guidelines and best practices currently reported in the literature as well as the latest technical and educational trends.

Such an extensive review of the literature on pathfinders has not been done before. It provides practical information for librarians wanting to embark on the production of pathfinders. It also identifies possible areas of future study.

THE Reference Department of Paisley Central Library today occupies the room which was the original Public Library built in 1870 and opened to the public in April 1871. Since that date two extensions to the building have taken place. The first, in 1882, provided a separate room for both Reference and Lending libraries; the second, opened in 1938, provided a new Children's Department. Together with the original cost of the building, these extensions were entirely financed by Sir Peter Coats, James Coats of Auchendrane and Daniel Coats respectively. The people of Paisley indeed owe much to this one family, whose generosity was great. They not only provided the capital required but continued to donate many useful and often extremely valuable works of reference over the many years that followed. In 1975 Paisley Library was incorporated in the new Renfrew District library service.

Looks at the pathfinder approach to library instruction, which was developed in the 1960s by Patricia Knapp. Knapp's system focused, not on the simple provision of answers to questions, but on the teaching of the effective use of the library and its resources– in other words, on the finding of one's “way” in the library.

A traditional theoretical model for the creation and evaluation of pathfinders (subject research guides) can be identified through study of the literature. This model, expressed in the design criteria of consistency, selectivity, transparency and accessibility, sprang from an impulse to serve the inexperienced user by emulating or facilitating the user's search process.

A gap in this model can be detected, in the form of a missing multi‐dimensional picture of the user and the user's experience of the information service via the pathfinder. In an attempt to fill the gap, literature examining information behavior, the search process, the design of user‐centered services, and the information retrieval interaction is discussed.

An experience‐centered model for online research guide design and evaluation is derived from the findings.