Libguides Editing Guidelines

LibGuides, a Springshare product used to host instructional and course-related content at the University Libraries, is a popular content management system (CMS) due to its ease of use and minimal content moderation. This allows content editors to quickly create and update frequently changing instructional materials. To achieve a design that visually aligns with the library website, LibGuides can be further tailored through custom code for a seamless user experience.

Students (primary audience)

• Undergraduates (Largest audience): The primary users of course and instructional content, accessing course guides, research support, and general library resources.
• Graduate students: Utilize LibGuides for more advanced, discipline-specific research support, thesis/dissertation resources, and instructional content.
• Online/Distance learners: Access remote research support, digital resources, and library services.
• First-year students: Often benefit from introductory guides on library navigation, research basics, and academic skills.

Faculty and instructors (collaborators, not the main audience)

Faculty and instructors are collaborators on guides, not the main audience. Librarians work with them to create and update content.

• Collaborators on guides: Instructors partner with librarians to create and update course-specific content but are not the primary audience.
• Instructional support: Faculty may use LibGuides to share course-related materials, recommend readings, or support information literacy instruction.

Library faculty and staff

• Faculty Librarians and Professional Staff: For teaching aids, frequently asked questions (FAQs), and research assistance tools.

• Student Employee Managers: For training materials and internal workflows.

Course guides

Use case: Guides for specific courses, designed to help students with assignments

• Example: https://libguides.library.arizona.edu/arc101

Subject guides

Use case: Assist with research in a specific field or discipline

• Example: https://libguides.library.arizona.edu/american-indian-studies

Topic guides

Use case: Overviews of information and resources about specific topics (not course or discipline specific, but still have an instructional purpose)

• Example: https://libguides.library.arizona.edu/genAI

Quick guides

Use case: Linked from D2L courses where there isn’t a specific course guide; meant to be a quick overview that requires few updates or maintenance

• Example: https://libguides.library.arizona.edu/chemistry

Use LibGuides for timely, instructional content and targeted library resources that are connected to a specific course, subject, or instructional topic. Users often access LibGuides from a D2L course shell, so guides should have a clear instructional purpose.

LibGuides can also be used when there’s a technical advantage with using Springshare to connect related reference or instructional tools. The Database AZ list and tutorials are examples.

We recommend using LibGuides instead of Drupal (the library’s website platform) when at least one of the following criteria is true:

• Is associated with a specific class (e.g. PTW 200) or a specific educational audience (e.g. MBA students)
• Has instructional or subject-based content that supports student research in the context of a course (e.g. links to frequently used sources in a particular discipline)
• Is a self-contained instructional module
• Needs frequent updates by subject experts who aren't website content managers
• Includes more than 3 databases that are in the Database AZ list
• Links to Primo item records (e.g. books) and you want to pull in book covers

Looking for guidance on how we manage and maintain our LibGuides? This document outlines our current workflows, best practices, and strategic goals for supporting a user-centered and consistent experience across all guides.