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LibGuide LibGuide

A Guide to LibGuides: Find out about how to create and edit LibGuides, view training sessions, & check out some tips, tricks, and best practices for guides.

LibGuide Review for Publishing Requirements

Accessibility 

Alt Text for Images 

  • Provide a caption or description of the image as Alt Text 

  • In the "Image Properties" window type in the alt-text in the "Alternative Text" field 

Embedded Media 

  • All videos and audio files need to have “closed captions” or include a transcript 

Friendly URLs

  • Choose a friendly URL for user-friendly sharing 

  • Friendly URLs make it easier to share & remember guide links  

Friendly URLs for Individual Pages 

  • Each page can also have its own friendly URL. 

  • Example:  https://library.fiu.edu/citation/apa  

Usability 

Copyright  

  • Correct & Prominent Attribution 

  • If you are borrowing content from another guide, website, etc. you must ask for permission, cite the source and credit the creators where necessary.  

Group Assignment 

  • LibGuides (Public): Places your guide on the publicly browse/searchable 

  • LibGuides page: library.fiu.edu/libguides  

Guide Name 

  • The Guide Name (or title) will appear at the top of the guide and in all lists of guides throughout your site 

  • Keep it succinct, yet meaningful, to make your guides easy to scan and find  

Guide Description 

  • Keep it simple 

  • Create a short description of the guide 

  • Give further insight into what the guide is about 

  • Use the language your users would use vs. Jargon 

  • Unless they'd use the jargon, too - then that makes total sense  

  • All guides need to have an introduction, addressing scope, purpose, etc. 

Guide Navigation Layout Choices 

  • Show all subpages in the side navigation 

  • Show box-level navigation for a selected page 

  • Prev / Next Links: 

  • Check this box to display First, Next, Previous, and Last navigation links at the bottom of each guide page  

Help Page and/or Profile Box 

  • Guides need at least one profile box or a "More Help" page with contact info. 

  • Do not have a profile on each page/tab of your guide. Guides should only have 1 profile box for each editor or contact per guide.  

Link Management 

  • Correct linking/reuse of databases, images, and other assets 

  • Links to resources, websites, etc. must have annotations; those annotations must offer added value. 

  • Guides should not just be lists of databases, links, books, resources, etc. 

  •  Remember we should not be recreating existing websites or guides.

Findability & Visibility 

Guide Type 

  • General Guides 

  • Guides created to help you navigate through the general research process 

  • Course & Assignment Guides 

  • Pages created to guide you through specific assignments or courses 

  • Subject & Topic Guides 

  • Guides covering general subject areas, specific topics, and/or disciplines 

  • Collections & Services 

  • Not for regular LibGuide creation, please contact LibGuide admin 

  • Internal Guide 

  • Guides created for use by Librarians and other Library Staff 

  • These are "Fully Restricted" - will not appear in the index of the public guide and can only be accessed when logged in to the LibApps system 

  • Template Guide 

  • Use for Blueprint guides 

Subjects 

  • Add subject associations to your guide by clicking on the pencil icon in the top left corner next to Subjects 

  • Please associate your guide with at least one subject for findability 

Tags 

  • Add as many tags as needed to make your guide discoverable in guide & Discovery searches 

Final Step: Submit for Review

Getting your Guide Published

When you're finished with your guide, it needs to be made public.  You'll need to submit your guide for review before publication.

  1. In the drop-down menu on the top right which lists the publication status (by default, it will be RED and show it as "Unpublished"

  2. Select "Submit for Review"

  3. LibGuide reviewers will be notified of a new guide being submitted and will contact you if needed.

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Use the "Message" Box 

  • Add a comment for your site's Reviewers here (quick notes/questions or items that have been added since the last review). It'll appear in the Publishing Workflow area.
  • Which pages and/or boxes need to be made visible after an update/refresh
  • If you have a deadline for a class session

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