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Power Your Library Website with LibGuides CMS

 

This is not an exhaustive list of all libraries using LibGuides CMS as a website. Rather these examples represent only institutions who have been explicitly contacted about being featured in this guide.

Disclaimer: Libraries frequently update their websites. The screenshots below might not reflect the most current/updated version of their website.

Districts & Consortia Using LibGuides CMS As Their Website

Jaime Barrilleaux
LOUIS: The Louisiana Library Network

We chose LibGuides CMS because Springshare’s suite of software are ideal for libraries and similar organizations.  We also wanted to develop our website(s) with a CMS that our member libraries would be able to use, so that we could help train and support them through their development process.   And many of our member libraries already subscribe to Springshare products.  Taking all of that into account, LibGuides CMS seemed the natural choice. 

Louis Library Network

We were very excited that we were able to use our branded domain name as our base URL.  We migrated from a system that didn’t allow us that option, and had very unfriendly URLs. 

Another factor was the ability to create “portals” with separate branding through the Groups functionality – something else our previous system didn’t allow us to easily do.

The best feature for us, though, is the A-Z Database management. We were able to adapt this integrated management functionality to produce our Cooperative Procurement page.
This page allows our members to view ALL technology and resources they have acquired through LOUIS. This was a long-time dream of ours, but other systems would have required a lot of backend development.

- Jaime Barrilleaux

Page Cotton
Ivy Tech Community College

The CMS our current website is on is clunky and difficult to use, so switching to LibGuides CMS was a no-brainer. Almost all of the 14 regional libraries in our state-wide community college are using LibGuides to some extent. This familiarity is a big advantage in using LibGuides CMS for our regional library websites. The ability to have groups within the CMS is a major perk for our libraries. 

Ivy Tech Community College

Caryl Wyatt created a group for all regional websites that will have a consistent look and organization that can be easily tweaked while allowing regions control over the content.

We are still diligently working on converting the content from our previous sites to the LibGuides CMS platform, and we hope to launch the new site in time for the upcoming semester in January 2016. Now that we're using easy-to-test and easy-to-change templates (thank you, Bootstrap!), we'll be able to update the design of our site on a more regular basis and start implementing new tools for our users.

Azhin LibGuides Website

Brooke Billman
Arizona Health Information Network

We decided to move to LibGuides CMS for our website in 2011 in order to better meet the need of our consortium members. We had previously been using a “home grown” system that allowed each consortium member to have their own library “portal” based on a set template which let them make basic text edits.

Having used LibGuides at a previous place of employment and knowing that the subscription price could fit within the organization’s limited budget, I made the recommendation to move to LibGuides CMS.

The members were very impressed with the platform’s ability to customize groups and guides without going through their IT departments. Also, since there are many hospital members it was crucial that LibGuides wasn’t blocked by their firewalls like some of the other products explored.

The ability to keep the consortium’s current domain name for the main site as well as for the members’ sites was another reason why LibGuides was the best choice for AZHIN. Each consortium member has a group within the AZHIN account which allows them to customize their guides in order to adhere to their institutions’ marketing requirements for logo and colors. 

Members are encouraged to utilize LibGuides even if their organization doesn’t have a librarian or library. Several of the hospital members (with and without librarians) have really taken to creating guides for departments or committees and love the flexibility the system affords them.

Having LibGuides CMS has been an extremely important value-added service for the consortium. The flexibility and great customer service (in addition to the very reasonable price!) makes LibGuides an essential resource for AZHIN.

- Brooke Billman