LibGuides at the U of M Libraries

This guide serves as the documentation to LibGuides at the University of Minnesota Libraries. All users, regardless of previous LibGuides usage, should review the content on this guide.

Getting started

If you do not already have a LibGuides account, please contact Kate McManus (cmcmanus@umn.edu) to be set up with an account. She is also the contact to set up initial training on LibGuides. Refer to this guide at any time to refresh your memory, check on best practices and procedures, or to share resources with your staff or department.

Why create a LibGuide?

  • If you're using group assets, we can update them automatically
  • Course guides or subject guides are linked from Canvas
  • Easy to publish/unpublish guides
  • They can be viewable by the public, or private and require a link
  • Page statistics!
  • Editable URL and metadata
  • Kate can support you!

Note

For those who have used LibGuides at other institutions:

The UMN Libraries implementation of LibGuides is different from other institutions. Be aware that some design elements may not be used or may be disabled. Training and guides from Springshare are useful, but they might give details about functionality or features which our implementation doesn't support.

If you have questions, please contact your Web Content Management Committee (WCMC) representative or Kate McManus (cmcmanus@umn.edu).

LibGuides at the University of Minnesota were launched in 2019 and are a work in progress as we learn more about how our instance of LibGuides is used, and how it best serves the University. If you have any questions, concerns, or feedback, please contact Kate McManus (cmcmanus@umn.edu). 

Definitions and more context

Guide types

  • Subject guide: Useful groupings of databases by subject, linked to from Canvas if no course guide exists (general overview, usually created by the subject liaison). These guides are linked from the subject guide list and are easier to find.
  • Course guide: Library course pages, linked to from Canvas (course specific, usually created by a subject liaison or LibGuides administrator, sometimes in collaboration with the instructor of the course). Because these are linked from Canvas, they are easier for your students to find. 
  • Topic guide: These guides are more focused than subject guides, are not tied to specific courses, and are often interdisciplinary in nature, with the option of one or two owners (e.g. "Library resources for transgender topics").
  • General purpose guide: High-level guides for a general audience with the option of multiple owners or no need for an owner (e.g. "How to find by format").

Other terms

  • Asset: How LibGuides describes links or databases put on your LibGuide. These are updated on the back end and you don't need to update them if links change.
  • Reusable box: These are boxes that can be "mapped" or "copied" to as many guides as needed. Like the Assets, we only need to update them once to have them change on all guides. Our Reusable LibGuides Boxes guide holds many of these boxes, but you can copy any box from any guide. We recommend making your own set in your sandbox guide!
  • Tutorials: These are how-to videos created by the Instructional Design Team (thank you Andrew and Lindsay!), and you can copy any box or video to your guides. Check the tutorials out here!
  • Sandbox: (Not to be confused with a sandbox feature that some websites have. Springshare doesn't offer that.) This is a homegrown term wherein creators have one guide to draft their own reusable boxes, hold their links, and keep content that shouldn't be tied to another guide (say a course guide). You can also use your sandbox to play with features and functions. You can organize these however you wish, but definitely use a template (we recommend the General Guide template), which will make it easier to draft reusable boxes. 

What kind of webpage should I make?

As you consider updating or creating content on the web, review WCMC's guidelines and flowchart to help you in the process. 

As always, contact your WCMC rep if you have any questions along the way. 

Other considerations

Audience

The number one question should always be: Who is your audience? 

Is your audience a first year writing course? Or are they graduate students? The kinds of resources you include will be different! 

Scope

The number two question is: What kind of guide are you making?

Is this for an entire class, or a specific assignment? Is it to direct someone writing a Thesis or Dissertation, or doing research on a complex topic? Or maybe it's to go along with a workshop you used to teach! 

Last Updated: Sep 21, 2023 4:44 PM