To establish a connection with someone we want to: A) be where they are, B) make them feel welcome and included once they arrive, and C) place information where they expect to find it. There are so many ways to do this, and LibGuides and LibGuides CMS are valuable tools in making these objectives a bit easier.
Here are several ideas we brainstormed, including one for those starting out with our Lean Library partnership!
This summer's SpringyCamp had a stellar presenter lineup. Stellar! We found inspiration in even the smallest of mentions, like in Jessica Riedmueller, Dr. Taine Duncan, and Hannah Hanshaw's presentation Finding UNITY in the Community: LibGuides as Tools of Inclusion. Their community-driven Gender, Sex, and Sexuality Community Resources guide focuses on meeting the needs of marginalized and at-risk communities - so it's important to get the right type of information to them easily. Something simple like adding resource icons to all of their links, along with an icon legend, went a long way in quickly communicating information to their users.
We loved this idea, so we decided to provide some more detailed instructions in this issue's Tips and Tricks page.
This tip requires HTML/CSS, so we recommend taking extra precautions, like using a separate text editor and adding your custom code via a Media/Widget asset, to prevent accidentally breaking page functionality!
For this SpringyNews tip, we're using LibGuides resource icons, which can be uploaded to your site's icon library and assigned to databases and link assets alike. And importantly, you can add alt text for these images that have semantic meaning (i.e., they are not purely decorative) so they are useful to those with low vision who are using a screen reader.
<td>
. Then add your icon description to the second column's <td>
.Icon | What does it stand for? |
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Open access - login or subscription not required | |
Full-text documents and articles | |
Image libraries | |
Audio files |
Questions about adding, managing, and displaying icons and their legends? Or styling with HTML/CSS? Head on over to the Springshare Lounge! We've got some great features, including a Q&A section for just these types of questions.
Connecting with your users can be as simple as being 'where they are'. Many of you already know this and integrate your LibGuides content inside of courseware tools, discovery layers, and more. But, did you know you can customize how your LibGuides content displays inside of your discovery layers?
Yes, you can! Using OAI-PMH, you can display LibGuides content in your discovery layers and any other tool able to ingest OAI-PMH formatted XML content.
Let's see how!
Display your LibGuides content inside your discovery layer!
The Open Archives Initiative Protocol for Metadata Harvesting (OAI-PMH) is a way of structuring metadata for interoperability between repositories. In plainer English, it allows your LibGuides content to be harvested and ingested into your discovery layer (Primo, Summon, EDS, BiblioCore, etc.) via XML. The process is automatic so as you publish and unpublish your LibGuides, that content is dynamically pushed into your discovery tool.
Check with your discovery layer provider to see if they allow you to setup XML integration using OAI-PMH.
If you don't add custom metadata to your LibGuides, your LibGuides content will appear in your discovery layer with whatever 'default' label your discovery layer uses.
Every LibGuide you build is formatted with Dublin Core metadata.
With LibGuides CMS you can:
With LibGuides CMS, you can add custom metadata to each guide you build.
You can add custom metadata:
Adding custom metadata allows you to customize how your LibGuides content displays in your discovery layer - including the ability for users to filter on it (DC:type)!
If some LibGuides are Research Guides and others are Instructional Guides - you can customize each group of guides with their own DC:type.
In case you missed it, in June we added a new default field to LibApps profiles: Pronouns! Now it's easy to let folks know which pronouns you use.
Once added, your pronouns will be visible below your name wherever your profile appears in your LibGuides site and on your default LibGuides profile page (if it's enabled).
We were very excited to introduce this change as it represents a new option to make your virtual space more inclusive and welcoming to users.
The start of the school year is a great time to ensure your profile is current!
Questions? Contact sales@springshare.com
With the Lean Library's Workflows for LibGuides, you can embed your LibGuides right at the point of need. Here’s how it works:
Organization is key! |
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Don’t start from scratch. |
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Think outside the box. |
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When we talk about connecting with users, those 'users' aren't always students and patrons. Connecting to our staff and other LibGuides contributors is just as important! Adding, revising, and revamping admin alert box content can keep people up to date with current policies, provide inspiration, and potentially open the door to better communication among your guide creators and managers.