Using LibGuides (For Librarians)  Tags: librarians professionals library_science educators  

Hello!

I'm a librarian with Hillsborough Community College (HCC) in Tampa, FL.

The original version of this guide accompanied a July 2008 webcast Using LibGuides to Share and Connect With Students conducted for the College Center for Library Automation. HCC was the first community college in Florida to sign on with LibGuides.

In this guide you'll see how HCC and other institutions are using LibGuides. Throughout the guide you'll see "how I did it," i.e. system features, custom HTML coding, embedded social media, etc., that I used in creating the object you're viewing at the time.

This guide is not intended to "sell" LibGuides. The CMS Alternatives page provides information about other (open source) systems that libraries are using (I have not found a proprietary product that does what LibGuides does, i.e. provide a social media environment tailored to libraries). The PowerPoint (on the Presentation Slides page) includes a frank discussion of what we at HCC like and don't like about the system.

I'm honored to have worked with Joanne Cameron of Palm Beach Community College in two break-out sessions during SEFLIN's New Technologies: Libraries and Beyond conference.

Being that it's in "continuous beta" (as everything seems to be in our Web2.0 world), there may be something new or different in this guide every time you visit. It's a lab for me to explore the potentials of LibGuides, and of social software and HTML. I'm not a web developer. I don't know what an API is. I'm a reference & instruction librarian on a professional development journey.

I hope this guide will be a useful gateway to ideas for your own journey.

Happy Trails!