*** please note that this manual has been moved to http://seneca.libguides.com/SGmanual - this document is no longer updated here ***

Seneca Libraries' Manual to Subject Guides on the LibGuides(tm) platform 

Last updated on December 13, 2010 by JF

>> View / Print the LibGuides_Quick Checklist - developed by Daisy (last updated August 24, 2009)

>> Please refer to the Subject Guide Content Guidelines for more information on maintaining content quality and consistency. 

>> Please refer to the Seneca Libraries Editorial Style Guide for more information on the use of specific terms and words for Seneca Libraries publications.

>> See the intro video showing the main features of LibGuides (7 minutes and 40 seconds).

>> For more news and new features of LibGuides refer to our LibGuides newsletters.

The Subject Guide Support Team:

• Provides training on LibGuides

• Advises on page layout and general content design questions that are based on our existing guidelines

• Does NOT create and update subject guides for owners - if they wanted someone to assist them, they have to request it through their manager

• Members of the Support Team

• King: Manda Plavsa
• Markham: Jane Foo
• Newnham: Jane Foo
• Seneca@York: Michelle Gravelle

• Contact Jane Foo for more complex technical questions and issues.

Table of Contents:

1. Starting a New Subject Guide

2. Making it Mine - How to Customize Your Subject Guide

3. Working With Boxes - More on Customization

4. Keeping the Subject Guide Updated

5. Miscellaneous Tips and Tricks (advanced stuff)

6. Inserting widgets / APIs

1. Starting a New Subject Guide

1. My Profile 
• Your profile is created by default when you get a LibGuides account.  You will have received an email with your login and password for http://seneca.libguides.com - if not, please contact Jane Foo (x2011). Click on "Admin Sign In" in the top right corner and log in. 
• Once logged in, your profile will appear on the right hand side of your admin menu page
• For more information about customizing your profile, please see section "2. Making it Mine"
2. A New Guide / Subguide (watch the overview video)
• To create a new guide, click on the first link in the menu list: "Create New Guide / Edit Guide" (it has a big green plus sign next to it!). This will pop up a new window that will prompt you to select a template  - select "Start Fresh (no template)", then fill in the title and description of the guide and assign co-owners and editors (please always include Michelle Gravelle who will be doing general maintenance on all subject guides).
• The Command Bar is your "Control Center" for managing and editing your guide.
• Guide Settings. These options enable you to change various guide attributes, like title/description, tags, assign editors (i.e. other users with full editing privileges for this guide), etc.

  Change Layout/Colors option may be disabled, if your administrator has "locked" the look and feel of all guides.

  Create Backup option may also be disabled if your institution does not have the optional add-on module. Contact your administrator to subscribe to this module.

• Add/Edit Pages. Use these options to work on your current page within this guide.

  Adjust Columns enables you to pick between 1, 2, and 3 column layout, as well as to pick specific width of each column (in pixels).

  Flip Profile Position displays your profile box in the left column, as opposed to the (default) right column.

• Other Guides enables you to see the list of other guides in your system, or to go the community site which indexes all guides from other institutions as well.

  The Community Site (http://community.libguides.com) is a great resource for ideas and inspiration when creating your own guides. Keep in mind that you can copy templates and pre-existing content from any guide from the community site.

• Status shows the current status of this guide (unpublished - invisible to users; private - visible only to users who know its direct URL; and published - visible to everyone).

  Change Guide Status enables you to change the status of this guide, to define a friendly url/shortcut, and to associate this guide with any number of subject categories.

  Post a Twitter Update enables you to post an update about the changes to this guide to Twitter.

• Preview opens a new window showing you how your guide will look to the users.
• My Admin takes you away from the guide edit screen back to the main admin page.
3. The Home Tab
• A tab is called "Page" in LibGuide.
• A "Home" tab is created by default for each new guide, and you can change the title of the tab if you wish to do so.  
• To conform with the library's subject guide content guidelines, please make sure that you at a minimum include the "Feedback" box, the profile boxes and a short introduction on the default tab page. Important: Please add your email and libguidesfeedback@senecac.on.ca to the Feedback Box Options > "Custom Delivery Email Address" field
4. A New Tab
• A tab is called "Page" in LibGuide.
• To create a new tab, use the yellow Command Bar at the top of the subject guide and select "Add / Edit Pages" > "Add New Page". You have the option to create a separate URL for this tab (useful if you want to send a link to this tab only to faculty or students) and make it top-level (a visible tab) or move it as a subtab under another tab (shows up on a drop-down meny when you hover over the main tab).  
• Please keep avoid subpages - they can be easily missed by users. Use subpages only if it makes sense to group two pages under one heading and if you have enough content for 2 pages (e.g., legislations - provincial and federal). 
• Please remove the profile boxes from any of the tabs that are not "Home" by clicking on "Remove Profile Boxes from Page"
• Decide if you want to use a 2 or 3-column layout - you can hide and adjust the width of the columns by selecting "Add / Edit Pages" > "Toggle / Resize Columns".
5. A New Box (watch the video explaining the different types of boxes)
• Click on one of the "Add New Box" links on the page that you want it to be on.  Don't worry, even if you click on the wrong spot, you can still move the boxes around later.
• You will then be prompted to create, link or copy a box.  Please do NOT link a box unless you own the to-be-linked box and plan to keep those two exactly the same.  In most cases, you will be using "Create a new box", but you can copy a box if you know someone else who has done a box with very similar content previously.
• Select a the box type. The types that are most frequently used by the library are:
• Rich Text / Dynamic Content / Scripts
• Web Links
• Links and Lists
• Books from the Catalog

Be careful with your choice - some box types cannot be converted into others once they have been created. For more information on what type of box to create, please see below's "Working with Boxes" section. 

Fill in the title of the box and position - don't worry, you can always change your choices later.

>> For more news and new features of LibGuides refer to our LibGuides newsletters at http://seneca.libguides.com/newsletter. <<

2. Making it Mine - How to Customize Your Subject Guide

1. Edit My Profile (watch the video)

• Change the Profile Box Title to something that provides more information: Examples are "Your Library Contact", "Subject Guide Owner", "Your Liaison at the Library" and even "Contact me for research questions"

• Upload a picture to LibGuides - you can update this anytime you like.

• Under Contact Info, enter your name, title, office location and extension number. A separate field is available for Subject specialty, email, personal Web site and campus.

• If you use Meebo or another cross-platform chatting application, you may paste the Chat Widget Code. Otherwise, if you want to include your chat ID, expand IM / Network Usernames to enter them.

• (Optional) Expand Additional Fields to enter your campus and status information. Your status information can inform users that you are on vacation or otherwise temporarily unavailable (or in a different location).

• Important! Click on "Save Main Profile" to apply the changes 

2. Edit My Guide 
• To modify your guide, select the specific guide from the drop-down menu of first link in the menu list: "Create New Guide / Edit Guide" (it has a big green plus sign next to it!). The drop-down menu shows you all the subject guides that you own or edit.
3. Information About the Guide
• You can change / add information about your guide after you have first created it. Use the yellow Command Bar at the top of your guide to make the changes to the guide (Guide Settings drop-down menu)
• Change Guide Information allows you to change the guide title and the overall description (not mandatory).
• You may decide to add tags describing the tags once you are ready to publish the guide.
• Under Status: Change Guide Status you may create an easy URL for users. For example http://seneca.libguides.com/business is easier to remember than http://seneca.libguides.com/content.php?pid=46681
4. Page Information
• The Add / Edit Pages drop-down menu on the yellow Command Bar at the top of a Subject Guide allows you to move boxes around (even across pages, specify the nunber of columns and column width (see below), change the page information and more.
• Use Change Page Info to rename your page (tab) title, assign an easy-to-remember URL or add a page description. 
5. Page Layout & Design
• Columns: LibGuides' default page design is a 3-column layout. You can change this layout if you work with a small number of boxes or have some boxes that are contain a lot of information (consider splitting these into multiple smaller boxes).
• Each Seneca Libraries Subject Guide Home page should have 3 columns:
1. The left column is reserved for the Feedback box, the Library Toolbar box and any other general reference boxes. 
2. The middle column is for reserved an introduction / welcome box or general reference boxes.
3. The right column is reserved for the subject guide owner's / owners' profile boxes.
• Any other pages may have anywhere from 1 to 3 columns, depending on the number of boxes and the amount of content in the boxes - although you may want to consider merging a few of your pages if you have many 1-box, 1-column pages. To customize the width of the columns on a page, go to Add / Edit Pages > Toggle / Resize Columns to start with default width value.  You can then adjust them accordingly to achieve a visually appealing layout.
• If a page has yields one box, consider moving it into another tab; if it's a generic / reference-type box (e.g., dictionaries, copyright notice), consider moving it to the Home page.
• You cannot change the overall colours of your pages. You can however change the colours of your boxes (see below) 
6. Boxes
• You may change the properties of a box (title, type, colours) by clicking on the edit link at the top right corner of the box
• You are only able to change between the following box types once you have selected a type: 
• A Rich Text box can be changed to any other type (exceptions: Interactive Poll, LibAnswer, Google Scholar Search Box)
• A Web Links box can be changed to a Links and List box
• Click on Change Box Colors to specify colours for the header, title, border or content background of a specific box. You may also revert to the default colours (consistent with the library's overall colours). Seneca's recommended colour shades are: red (#FF0000 or #FF3333), grey (#DDDDDD, #EEEEEE, etc.), white (#FFFFFF) and black (#000000).
• For more information on selecting and working with boxes, please read the next section (3. Working With Boxes)
7. Graphics
• Seneca Libraries has a list of icons and small graphics that may be used for the subject guides. View them on the HowTo wiki: http://senlib.pbworks.com/icons 

>> For more news and new features of LibGuides refer to our LibGuides newsletters at http://seneca.libguides.com/newsletter. <<

3. Working With Boxes - More on Customization

1. Selecting a Box Type

• For links to our databases, e-journals, e-books and other subsciption resources use the Links and Lists Box . This type of box will track click-through statistics and display annotation / instructions and more information.
• For Web site links with annotation use the Links and Lists box. This type of box will track click-through statistics and display annotation / instructions and more information.
• For links that have no annotations (e.g., list of e-journals), you may also use the Web Links box if you wish to work with less white space. This type of box will track click-through statistics for your and show you how often people have clicked on a particular resource. 
• For books (both e-books and books in the library) use the Books from the Catalog box. If you wish to lay out book covers in a different manner, you may also use the Rich Text box.
• For RSS feeds, streamed videos, podcasts etc. use the appropriate box type.

2. Creating Links to Databases

• Chances are that the database that you would like to include in a box has already been entered into LibGuides by one of the Seneca Library subject guide owners.  So when you are adding a new database link, first click on the "Reuse Existing Link" tab and enter the first few letters of the database to see if it already has been added. Make sure you select the checkbox for "Make a copy of this resource (instead of mapping to the original). If you check this box, changes made to the original resource will not affect this copy you are creating." before reusing the link.I
• If you are creating a database link from scratch, use the correct URL from the database list from the Seneca Libraries Web site: right-click and save / copy the link instead of copying it from the browser URL field.
• Include a maple leaf icon if the database contains a majority of Canadian content - paste the following code into the Title of the Link field:

   <img src='http://library.senecacollege.ca/_graphics/mapleleaf.gif' border='0' alt='Canadian content' />

• Include more info about the database by adding the following code to the More Information field:

  <a href="/http://library.senecacollege.ca/Find_Articles/DB_Description/ENTER_DB_ID.html'>about this database</a> 

  -  get the ENTER_DB_ID value from the database list by hovering over the more info link or by referring to the following list by Daisy: Database_IDs.docx (also available in the Checklist)

3. Creating Links to Articles and Canned Searches

•  Include a maple leaf icon if the database contains a majority of Canadian content - paste the following code into the Title of the Link field:

  <img src='http://library.senecacollege.ca/_graphics/mapleleaf.gif' border='0' alt='Canadian content' />

• For articles, please follow the correct citation style appropriate for the subject program (APA / MLA)

• To find out how to create persistent links, please go to the HowTo Wiki: http://senlib.pbworks.com/PURL

4. Creating Links to Periodical Titles

• Include a maple leaf icon if the database contains a majority of Canadian content - paste the following code into the Title of the Link field:

   <img src='http://library.senecacollege.ca/_graphics/mapleleaf.gif' border='0' alt='Canadian content' />

• All titles should be linked via the SFX menu (Journal Title Finder) and NOT through the library catalogue or directly to the vendor - this is to ensure that you the user can always see all the available manifestations of this title (both online and in the library catalogue)
• How to link to a title via SFX. There are two ways:  (http://senlib.pbworks.com/SFXlink)
1. Use the search box from the library home page http://library.senecacollege.ca (drop-down option "Titles (Journal, Magazine...)" ,  "Save this link" will provide you with the persistent link. If you use the Journal Title Finder it becomes a bit trickier because you will have to do the title search, then click on the "i" icon and the title link within the "i" box (I'm working on fixing that!), so here is the second way (much faster!):
2. Use the following URL template

   http://sfx7.exlibrisgroup.com/seneca/db?rft.issn=XXXX-XXXX&sfx.show_availability=1&sfx.ignore_date_threshold=1

   and substitute XXXX-XXXX with the title's ISSN. The second method will work for most titles provided the ISSN is correct and exists.

5. Creating Links to Web Sites

• Include a maple leaf icon if the database contains a majority of Canadian content - paste the following code into the Title of the Link field:

   <img src='http://library.senecacollege.ca/_graphics/mapleleaf.gif' border='0' alt='Canadian content' />

6. Books from the Catalogue Box (also works for eBooks)

• To create a link to a catalogue record, use the code snippet http://libcat.senecac.on.ca/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=XXXXXX where XXXXXX is the Voyager Bib ID. You can get this number from the MARC Record View of the item in field 001 (HowToWiki: http://senlib.pbworks.com/OPAC-PURL).
• To create a link directly to an eBook, please follow the standard PURL instructions: http://senlib.pbworks.com/PURL.
• To add a book cover image, please use Syndetics, a book cover service that we pay for. Do not use the built-in ISSN / Amazon look up features as it creates a link to the Amazon record, not to our library catalogue record. To check if a book cover image is available, use the URL template http://www.syndetics.com/hw7.pl?isbn=XXXXXXXXXX/mc.gif&client=seneca, where XXXXXXXXXX is the book's ISBN number. If the cover does not show up in an ebook, try both the ebook and the print version's ISBN number.  If you are unsuccessful on Syndetics, try linking to a cover from netLibrary, OVID and any of the vendors that we subscribe to. Other services require link-backs to their service (e.g., Google), so please refrain from using them (HowToWiki: http://senlib.pbworks.com/covers).
• Location: Books available in print should always specify the location and link to the record that shows an up-to-date availability status (link from the title of the book). Use the phrase "Available at the XXXXXX library." under the Description field.  Call Number and Author are optional. . Use the following code if you want to provide different links to campus-based holding records in the Description field:

  Available at <a href="http://libcat.senecac.on.ca/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?BBID=XXXXXX">Seneca@York</a>

  where (XXXXXX is the BBID from the MARC record view of the record (001). 

• If you are missing covers but would still like to show a cover for each book, you may use the following placeholder image:

  http://library.senecacollege.ca/_graphics/nocover.gif (with thanks to Pam for creating this image)

7. Other Ways to Display Books

• Rich-text / HTML boxes may also be used to display books and book covers (both e and print) but require some knowledge of HTML and HTML tables, especially. 

• If you decide to use this option, please make sure to include a link and any relevant details about the book (is it an ebook or print? What is the title / author etc.)

8. RSS, Podcasting, Videostreaming, etc.: Boxes With More Interactive Features

• RSS Feeds: Users can now subscribe to several different RSS feeds that contain information about content being added to LibGuides.  These feeds are setup to display information about a) content added to a specific guide, b) content added by a specific librairan/user, or b) content added to the entire system. 
• User Submitted Link Moderation: To help reduce the chance of spam, user submitted links will not show up until they have been approved by a guide owner/editor or site admin.  In addition, the email address of the person who submitted the link will no longer be shown to the public and the submitter name is now optional.

9. LibAnswers Box and Other Upcoming Box Types (Summer 2009)

• LibAnswers is a new question-and-answer service built specifically for libraries.  Using LibAnswers, librarians will be able to answer questions in a public forum and point visitors to library resources that are related to the question/topic at hand.  Answers can contain document attachments and embedded videos as well as links to applicable resources within LibGuides.  Visitors will be able to comment on and improve the answers, so there will be a strong social component to the system.  By embedding LibAnswers widgets on other websites, blogs, courseware systems, etc. your users will be able to ask you questions from anywhere on the web, for a true “meet the user wherever they are” experience.  Users will be able to submit questions into LibAnswers via Twitter, as well as from their iPhones or Facebook.  In addition to being a very useful web 2.0 question-and-answer service, LibAnswers will also be a great content-discovery and outreach tool for libraries, to help you engage more people and promote library resources.  LibAnswers will be tightly integrated with LibGuides, and as such it will help drive traffic to your LibGuides site (and vice versa).  The Beta will be unveiled in early May, with the production system to follow in the summer.
• CampusGuides is a new product based on the LibGuides platform, which will extend the content creation and collaboration capability to any group on campus - faculty, students, staff, etc.  This will create many exciting opportunities for collaboration and creation of even more quality content in your systems.  CampusGuides will include categorizations of guides into logical groups, css customization for individual guides, password protection for guides, etc.  We plan to unveil a CampusGuides beta in early May, in order to solicit on user feedback, and then announce an official release over the summer.

10. Seneca Libraries Custom Boxes (try them out at http://seneca.libguides.com/custom)

• You can add one of the following Seneca Libraries' custom function boxes to your Subject Guide:
• Library Toolbox
• Library Catalogue Search
• Audio-Visual Search
• Library News
• Journal Title Finder
• Database Search
• Multi-database Search (Find Articles)
• AskON
• MLA Citation Style
• APA Citation Style
• To add them to your page:
• Step 1: Create a new box;
• Step 2: Select "Link to another box in the system";
• Step 3: From the drop-down menu, select "Custom Boxes for Seneca Libraries by Jane Foo";
• Step 4: Pick a box from the content box drop-down menu.
• And voila, you are done!
• If you would like to customize any of these boxes, follow the same procedures except for Step 2: Select "Copy another box from the system" instead.

>> For more news and new features of LibGuides refer to our LibGuides newsletters at http://seneca.libguides.com/newsletter. <<

4. Keeping the Subject Guide Updated

1. Make sure that the publishing status on your subject guide (watch the video) is set to "Published" (watch the video). For more information: http://demo.libguides.com/content.php?pid=231&sid=391

2. Assign the guide to the correct subject category / categories.

3. Update the co-owners & editors when there are staff changes.

4. Run the Link Checker at least at the beginning of every semester (Admin menu) and fix any broken links (more info about this functionality at http://support.springshare.com/2008/09/link-checker-function-in-libguides) (see the HowTo Wiki instructions).

5. LibGuides does not have a spell checker for Web pages but you can install a Firefox add-on that will allow you to compare your content against a Canadian dictionary:  Spell Checker 1.2 - change the language to Canadian-English by also downloading the Canadian English Dictionary 1.1.4 Add-On to Firefox. Once both are installed (and Firefox has been restarted), go to Tools > Spell Checker > Preferences > Choose Dictionary: en-CA. To check a page, right-click anywhere on the page and select "Check Spellings".

6. Review your resources usage statistics (Admin menu page > Usage Statistics Tab) on a regular basis (see the HowTo Wiki instructions).

7. Back up your subject guide(s) on a regular basis. You can do this from the Subject Guide's Command Bar > Guide Settings > Create Backup (see the HowTo Wiki instructions).\

>> For more news and new features of LibGuides refer to our LibGuides newsletters at http://seneca.libguides.com/newsletter. <<

5. Miscellaneous Tips and Tricks (advanced stuff):

• Adding a Subject Guide to BlackBoard (watch the video) 

• If you are looking for inspiration or do not know much about your subject guide, you can look at what others have done on "Community". You can also copy pages if necessary http://community.libguides.com/community.php?m=g&s=all 

• http://support.springshare.com/category/tips-and-tricks/

• Re-using content (boxes, tabs etc.) http://support.springshare.com/2008/10/introducing-the-libguides-add-on-module/ 

6. Inserting widgets / APIS

• forthcoming

More Documentation:

>> Springshare's support site and Webinars

>> Find guidelines and instructions at other libraries: http://help.libguides.com/content.php?pid=34814&sid=398102.

>> Articles about LibGuides: http://help.libguides.com/conferences.

LibGuide Decisions by the Committee (June 2009)

• Comments -disable this for now

• Feedback box - mandatory for every subject guide (top left of the first tab); see if we get feedback; use this default one instead of customized poll pox

• List Boxes -  ratings - disable

• Profile - positioning, owner vs. editor (multi-owners), on home tab or all tabs?  only on home tab, right position is fine

• Annotations - 256 characters or less ; committee is ok with this

• Box Colours - give owners the option to customize the boxe but give a limit (Seneca colour palette)

Known Issues and Questions: 

• Annotations are limited to 256 characters (more has to be either placed into the "More Information" field or a rich HTML text box has to be used instead.

• What if I am making major changes and want to create a test page?

• Copying other works - create a permission request template