SpringyCamp October 2016: Designing for Your Users

John Hernandez, Web & Mobile Services Librarian - Northwestern University Libraries

Lauren McKeen, Web Manager - Northwestern University Libraries

At Northwestern University, as part of our transition to LibGuides 2.0 we developed a LibGuides 2.0 Toolkit for staff. The toolkit offers guidance on how to create a guide, add content, and publish and maintain a guide with lots of examples. John Hernandez, the Web & Mobile Services Librarian will talk about the process, experience and outcomes of the toolkit. Join fellow Springy Campers and learn about the rationale behind our approach to staff support, some basic ideas about our guide philosophy, and future plans as we move forward with our full-on LibApps upgrade this year.

Ashley Creek, Access and Learning Services Librarian - University of Saint Mary

Training student workers is repetitive, time-consuming, and covers significantly repetitious material. To provide a more baseline student worker training orientation, the Access & Learning Services Librarian at a small liberal arts college constructed online interactive tutorials with embedded photos, videos, and capstone quizzes using Springshare's LibGuides 2.0, Google Forms, & Flubaroo. As student workers complete each training module, they earn an electronic badge from Credly which can be displayed on their LinkedIn or Facebook profiles, and work study supervisors can focus group and one-on-one training sessions on higher-level tasks rather than rehashing the basics. The LibGuides platform allows for instantaneous updates, and provides a searchable archive of training materials, replacing paper and static electronic training manuals. Future modules will cover ongoing library projects, allowing work study assistants to work on projects aligned with their particular talents and interests. LibGuides 2.0 provides a dynamic platform for student worker training and instruction.

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Andrew Adler, Public Services Coordinator, Georgetown College
 

Beginning in the Summer of 2016, the library staff at Ensor Learning Resource Center sought new ways to train their Library Student Assistants (LSAs). In the past, this training had been done face-to-face on the LSAs first day during their first shift and was never revisited. This caused problems. From forgetting how to handle check in/check out procedures, to failing to re-shelve books properly, to general disciplinary issues, the staff noticed troubling issues. In order to better train our students – and to allow for consistent re-training – we worked to develop a number of tutorials through LibWizard that our students were required to complete. This allows staff to monitor who has completed the training, as well as reassign the trainings should a student struggle with any aspect of them. While new, the staff has seen success already and will work to expand these trainings in the future. 

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Latanya Jenkins, Reference Librarian- African American Studies, Government Information - Temple University

Temple University Librarians worked with the Charles L. Blockson Afro-American Librarian, using the collection to promote BHM2016. Collaboration can be difficult due to people’s schedules, but from content gathering to organizing, there is a way for groups to work on facets of the content. Using sample scans from this special collection and book cover information TUL is able to create a LibGuide to provide further access to both the library general collection and to the special collection.

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Dianne Mueller, Children's and Young Adult Collection Librarian - Texas A&M - Central Texas

University libraries don’t always have a children’s and young adult collection.  Our library serves a large teaching department, a student body whose average age is over 30 who already have children, and the community at large.  We provide a children’s and young adult collection, but we needed to create an easy system for students to find the materials needed and LibGuides was the answer.

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Kendall Hinesley, Reference Services Coordinator and acting Web Manager - California State University Dominguez Hills 

This presentation consists of an overview of how the CSUDH library re-designed it’s website to be more user friendly, dynamic, and streamline upkeep for employees, using Springshare products. The CSUDH library is required to use a CMS by the university, but received little help from the IT department in implementing or overseeing it’s use. At one point the website consisted of over 2000 static pages. With maintenance nearly impossible, no little chance of IT helping us with programming or configuring databases, we had to find another way to centralize content management. We turned to Springshare applications to replace our database list, FAQ, Chat, Calendar, reference consultations, and instruction session sign up form.

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PJ Purchase, University Librarian - University of Phoenix

Karen Grondin, User Experience Librarian - University of Phoenix

Our library has been focused on incorporating WCAG 2.0 AA standards  into our LibGuides CMS site.  We will discuss how we are tracking identified issues, using HTML and CSS to address accessibility, and how Springshare is continuing to support our accessibility efforts with recent system updates. 

Karen's Tips and Tricks:

• Use the Inspect Element function of your web browser (right-click and select “inspect element” to view the CSS and HTML of a specific section of your site.  You can then experiment with modifying the CSS to see how it will affect the page without making permanent changes.
• Someone asked for advice on working with database vendors to get them to provide accessible products.  My advice was to request VPATs (Voluntary Product Accessibility Template) and work with your accessibility office.  It is also helpful to include a statement in your license agreement, if you are not already doing so, about the responsibility of the vendor for meeting accessibility requirements. 

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Shanti Freundlich, Online & Educational Technologies Librarian - Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (MCPHS University)

In the process of redesigning a digital space for teaching and learning resources? Learn how one institution is bringing together teaching and learning resources for faculty from an Intranet site and a Blackboard Community Organization into one merged Center for Teaching & Learning using LibGuides v2. Participants will leave this presentation with strategies for gathering faculty input, taking an inventory of pre-existing content, relevant tools in LibGuides and LibAnswers, and related Teaching & Learning scholarship. This is an ongoing project, so we’ll also be able to discuss project planning, current timelines, and how LibGuides tools are shaping the digital space.

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