Lib Guides Guidelines
- Ask an editor to read any changes for your research guides. These do not have to be edited before the guides get "published," but do need to be proofread as soon as possible.
- Include "Find Books" and "Find Articles" as tab options in main subject guides.
- Have some sort of "getting started," "background reading" "encyclopedias" section. Don't forget print resources!
- Annotations should tell your users what the resource is "good for."
Good ideas:
It's a good idea to include a box of links for your tabs [since some users won’t see the tabs] within your guide as well.
Don't forget to add class guides/"handouts"!
LibGuides Formatting Guidelines
Please note that we use a Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) to provide consistent formatting across LibGuides. This controls the font style and size, heading style and size, link colors, etc. The colors that we use in the the boxes and in the outlines are also set to coordinate with the official colors used on the WCU web site. The look and feel of boxes should not be altered (e.g. shape, color). In early 2011, the LibGuides Task Force also decided the following guidelines would be in place for LibGuides:
- Text- Always use black. If you need to emphasis/highlight something use bold. NOTE: You can use red very sparingly if you absolutely need to emphasize something. (hyperlinks, according to the CSS will be purple)
- Location- to signify location from the catalogue use all caps: ASU, UNCA or WCU
- Reference collection location from the catalogue- use all caps: REFERENCE (e.g. WCU REFERENCE QD65.H32)
- Liaisons will follow whatever citation style they deem more appropriate in their research guides.
Copying and Pasting from Word
MS Word formatting often is at odds with the CSS set up in Hunter's LibGuides admin area. LibGuides has provided two text boxes that are supposed to help with this problem. One is a "Paste from Word" button and the other is a remove formatting button. The "Paste from Word" button is supposed to help maintain formatting from Word but it doesn't always work (because we suspect LibGuides has based this on an older version of MSWord) and again, you may still see some formatting discrepancies between Word and our CSS. This can make your page look disjointed with different fonts styles and sizes. To avoid these problems, you can either create your document in LibGuides itself, create in MSWord and then cut and paste into Notepad and then cut and paste into LibGuides, or create in word then paste into LibGuides and use the "remove formatting" button. The problem with working in Word and cutting and pasting via Notepad means that you lose your hyperlinks (as well as all of the formatting). All links remain when you use the "remove formatting" button when you've pasted in something from Word (though formatting does disappear). It is recommended to create the original work in LibGuides (did you know you can suppress/hide pages on an already-produced guide?).
Assigning a subject
Do not assign a subject to a guide until the guide has been published.
Guides can have multiple subjects.
If you need a new subject to be created, contact the LibGuides administrator. Once assigned, it will take an overnight refresh for that guide to show up with the associated subject.
Adding the Meebo widget
1. Go to researchguides.wcu.edu and log in.
2. Go to "My Admin"
3. Click on "Customize Your Profile"
4. In the Chat Widget Code box: paste the following code and save your profile:
<!— Beginning of meebo me widget code. Want to talk with visitors on your page? Go to http://www.meebome.com/ and get your widget! —> <object width="190" height="275" ><param name="movie" value="http://widget.meebo.com/mm.swf?CdSrkQbaPi"/><embed src="http://widget.meebo.com/mm.swf?CdSrkQbaPi" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="190" height="275"></embed></object>
Adding the Ebsco Search Box
Use the Search Box Builder: http://support.ebscohost.com/eit/searchboxbuilder. When asked for the proxy URL, use http://www.wcu.edu/library/SCRIPTS/LibRedirect.asp? (including the ending question mark). Leave all the options in the "Methods" box blank. If you encounter any issues ask Joel.
One caveat:
When posting the search box to your libguides, make sure to switch to the plain text editor (there is a link at the top of the rich text editor with an explanation about JavaScript) and paste it in there. MAKE SURE you don't make any changes in the rich text editor as this will remove the part of the code that makes the search work!
Uploading Images and Documents:
Uploading images: when you are editing text, click on the insert images button (has a picture of a tree), choose Click to upload an image from your computer or reuse an image in your personal image library. This works now!
Uploading documents: When you add a new box, one option will be Documents & Files. Choose that, and you can upload…you got it, documents and files!
Troubleshooting: Unless it is urgent, please pass any questions or comments for LibGuides to Krista, who serves as administrator for LibGuides.
Widgets and Database Lists Krista has created a fabulous guide for developing and embedding search widgets: http://researchguides.wcu.edu/content.php?pid=108159&sid=813543&search_terms=widgets
