LibGuiders @ USC blog

Check out these new box types http://support.springshare.com/2008/08/search-google-books-within-libguides/

http://support.springshare.com/2008/08/feedback-box/

Hi all,

Laurel (the great) has created a javascript for the catalog search box to display in LibGuides. When the catalog was updated a couple weeks ago our search boxes in LibGuides had some bugs, but with the new javascript version we will never have to update the box in our LibGuides again!

All the catalog search boxes which appear under “Find Books” tabs on all PUBLISHED guides have been updated. If you have a catalog search box on other tabs they may not have been updated. In that case let me know where it is and I’ll update it. And if you have UNPUBLISHED guides with a catalog search box you can either let me know and I’ll fix it or just delete that box and copy the catalog search box from a published guide. Hope that makes sense.

Also, take a look at this box on your published guides. The old version did not have a link to Advanced Search so many of us added one. The new version has a link so you may want to delete your link now.

Let me know if you have questions/concerns.

Beki

When you publish a guide remember to go to “Change Status” in upper left corner and add your guide to a subject category. OR if you have published a course guide, add your guide to the subject category USC COURSE GUIDES. If you would like to add your guide to more than one category, send an email to me or Alma with the name of the guide and the subjects you would like it to appear under.

From Marilee:

I think you should direct LibGuiders to this article.  Mostly because I want someone else to at least explain the abstract to me if not the entire article.

“Meta-Assessment of Online Research Guides
Usage,” by Charles Smith. The Reference
Librarian 47, no. 1 (2007): 79-93.
Using research guides developed for Western
Kentucky University, Smith used a “multiple
regression analysis…to predict usage rates on
the basis of surrogates for size of possible
usership, and variations in quality and size of
the of the guides themselves. The ‘badness of
fit’ of the regression model can be used to
suggest ways of improving the outreach effort,
as the residuals left from the analysis arguably
identify related lapses in coverage or promotion”
(abstract).

Hi all,

We removed the global color/style requirements in LibGuides so that you all can change the colors and shape of tabs, etc as you please. This may have caused some of your guides to change color and style. If you did not set a color/style or copy your guide from the template, the color/sytle of your guide will probably revert to the default in LibGuides. Please take a look at your guides and be sure they appear as you intended. To change the color/style go to the admin side of your guide and in the upper right click on “Guide Options” and “Change layout/color”.

Let me know if you have questions.

Beki

Virginia discovered that profile images display very differently in IE6 as opposed to IE7 or Firefox. When you include an image in your profile please limit the pixel width to 130.  This will ensure your photo displays well in any browser.

Beki

We now know that when you copy a “Documents & Files” box from one LibGuide to another the files that you uploaded to this box will not be accessible on the copied box. The LibGuides system does not tell you this so please check your guides to be sure all documents you wish to display are actually accessible. You do have the option to link to a “Documents & Files” box from another LibGuide but don’t choose the ‘copy’ option.

On that note, most of the files that we have uploaded to “Documents & Files” boxes have been placed on our server and are available as web links. For instance, all of the citation style handouts are at http://www.sc.edu/library/styleresources.html  In this case it is much wiser to create a “web links” box and link to the pdf’s from there. The reason being when that guide is updated on the server it will automatically be updated on your guide. Please consider this option. If you need a pdf that is not currently up on the server to be put up on the server you can make a request through the web request system.

Let me know if you have questions and please take a look at your guides to be sure your links are working properly.

Beki

If you would like to display an image on one of your LibGuides, the easiest way is put it up on our server and then link to the image in your guide. To request that an image be placed on the server go through your normal webrequest system. If you need help editing the html to get the image to appear let me know.

Beki

Don’t forget you can create “friendly” URL’s for your LibGuides. For example, instead of using the default URL for my Psychology guide http://guides.library.sc.edu/content.php?pid=625 I can use the friendly URL that I created http://guides.library.sc.edu/psychology

To create a friendly URL go to the edit mode for your guide and choose “change status” (upper left of guide) there you will see an option to create “Friendly URL”. This makes it easier for faculty to post to blackboard or to send to their classes, etc.

Add the LibGuides application to your Facebook page! It’s easy, just search the applications for LibGuides. The “LibGuides” app. adds a link on the left-hand side of your Facebook page while the “LibGuides Librarian” app. allows librarians to display their own LibGuides on their profile page. Check it out!