LibGuides SOP

Springshare has an extensive library of guides on how to use LibGuides. This SOP covers items specific to the university.

I recommend you follow the steps below in the exact order they are listed. Yes, you will skip around on the create guide page, but this ensures that your selections are not removed later.

To create a new guide:

1. Under Choose Layout or Reuse, select either Start fresh or Copy content / layout from an existing guide.
   • If you select Copy content / layout from an existing guide, you will be asked to select the guide you wish to copy. Make sure you do not check the box to Copy Assets as you want to reuse existing assets to avoid creating duplicate entries in the Assets list.
2. Under Group Assignment, choose the correct group. Common groups currently in use include:
   • College of Business and Information Technology
   • College of Doctoral Studies
   • College of Education
   • College of General Studies
   • College of Health Professions
   • College of Nursing
   • College of Social and Behavioral Sciences
   • Drafts
3. Select the correct Guide Type.
4. Select the template MyPhoenix (edit).
5. Enter the Guide Name. If you are creating a course guide, the current format is as follows:
   SOC/110: Sociology and Ethics
6. Select the appropriate Share Guide Content option. Some guides that contain propriety university information should not be shared with the community.
7. Click Create Guide.

If you are building a subject or how do I guide, or adding additional, non-library reading content to a course guide, consider the following:

• Audience: Who specifically will be reading the content? If there is more than one audience, they should be ranked (i.e., 1. students, 2. alumni).
• Messaging: What ideas should be prioritized in the content? We hope students (etc.) will remember these critical takeaways after leaving the site.
• Topics: What information is most important to the audience?
  • The most critical information to the user should be listed first (which is not always the same as what we want them to know).
  • Would this information also be helpful for alumni? Is there additional information that would be useful for alumni?
• Purpose: Is the content meant to persuade, inform, validate, instruct, or entertain readers?
• Voice and tone: Does the writing style match the university’s brand?
• Sources: What is the source of the content? It will be original, co-created with another entity, generated by users, aggregated, curated, or licensed from other sources.

Adapted from, Content strategy in LibGuides: An exploratory study (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acalib.2020.102282).