Guides: *Reusable Content*: Documentation

Documentation

StaffWiki Libguides Documentation

Requirements & Best Practices

Requirements:

The guide should have a homepage ("Overview").
The homepage should have a table of contents in the upper left.
Assign the guide to a Group (Course Guides, Research Guides, Using the Library, etc.).
For Research guides only, assign the guide a subject or subjects.
Create a friendly URL for the guide, e.g.: guides.library.georgetown/film/. This appears at the bottom of the guide.
No more than two rows of tabs per guide. Use nesting whenever appropriate.
Guide titles and tabs should be in title case and use "&" instead of "and." (And no comma before the amerpsand.)
Every guide should have contact information. This can either be your full profile or a box with briefer contact information. Contact boxes should appear at the top of the right-hand column.
Name course guides like this: HIST 449: Food in Western History. For courses with multiple sections, add the professor's name to the title: HUMW 011: Frusicone - Adapting Shakespeare.

Best Practices:

Suggested hompeage title: "Overview"
It is recommended that the homepage of your guide have 3 columns (230, 520, 209 column size).
It's best to have your profile only on the main page of the guide.
Links should not open a new window.
Lists of resources should preferably be in alphabetical order.
Database descriptions should be concise (there is a 500-word limit). Any additional explanation can be included in the "more information" field.
Link directly to databases from the master A to Z list; do not "copy" the link to your guide.
Search widgets and tutorials should generally go in the side columns (left or right).
Commonly used widgets, tutorials, graphics, etc. can be found on the Reusable Content guide.
Use Journal Finder and Google Scholar search widgets on Articles pages.
When embedding YouTube clips in the side columns, size them to 200 (W) x 150 (H). (See "How to Embed Video Clips," below.)
Follow the Library's style guide.

Discoverability:

Try to get links to guides on department pages.
Put links to relevant department pages on your guide.
Suggest that professors include links on Blackboard.
Assign tags to guides (no more than two lines of tags).

New-Guide Workflow:

Author creates guide (leaving unpublished).
Author sends guide link to LibGuides administrator (David Gibbs) for review.
Administrator edits and discusses any major changes with author.
Author revises guide as needed.
Upon final approval from administrator, author publishes guide.
Course guides do not need to go through this process.

A-Z Databases List

The purpose of the A-Z list is to assist users in finding known items, usually online databases. It is not meant to be a browsing or discovery tool, or a comprehensive list of resources with complete descriptions. GEORGE is the definitive catalog of resources and a more robust tool for discovery and access. While many types of resources may be added to individual guides, not all of them should be included on the A-Z list. Here are some guidelines to follow:

Avoid adding monographs, either electronic or print, especially ebooks with one-user limits.
Limit the inclusion of free websites, except government sites. Resources such as websites that have reference or research value should be considered for inclusion in GEORGE and on relevant subject guides.
Avoid adding individual periodical titles. Exceptions may be made for those with broad appeal and reference value, e.g., the New York Times.
Include a cross-reference for variant titles. Because LibGuides doesn't have a provision for cross-references, you will need to add a separate entry for the variant title. In the description use the wording "See [official title]." Directly link the official title to the resource. To avoid duplication and confusion, do not include an annotation in the cross-reference entry.
Example of a cross-reference:
Eastview
See Online Databases of Russian/NIS Publications

How to Embed Video Clips

Create "Embedded Media and Widgets" box in LibGuides. Give it a title and save.

Go to the YouTube video you wish to embed. Click on "Share" and then "Embed"

Scroll down to select the size of the video. Choose "Custom". Depending on which LibGuides column you're using, you'll want to play around with the width.

for a three-column LibGuide, 200 X 143 works for LEFT columns, 180 X 132 for RIGHT columns. For the middle column, 490 X 309 works well, although you can also do any smaller size.
for a two-column LibGuide, same size on the RIGHT and LEFT columns, but the largest column can be 720 X 440 or smaller.

Once you have chosen the custom size, highlight and copy the embed code in the box. It should look like this:

MAKE SURE THE WIDTH AND HEIGHT MATCH WHATEVER YOU PUT INTO CUSTOM, OR IT WILL NOT FIT.

Go back to LibGuides page and click on "Embed a Video/Audio Clip". Paste the embed code in the box and click "Embed It"

You're done!