 |
 |
Hi Dave, There's a list of libraries using SubjectsPlus here: http://subjectsplus.com/wiki/index.php?title=Sites_using_SubjectsPlus Julia ********************************************* Julia Bauder Social Studies and Data Services Librarian Grinnell College Libraries 1111 Sixth Ave. Grinnell, IA 50112 641-269-4431 On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 9:07 AM, davesgonechina <[log in to unmask]>wrote: > You guys are awesome, this is great stuff, really helpful. My impression of > libguides has been fairly negative for many of the reasons mentioned, but > Sean has a good point about content strategy and training, and Wilhemina > has a good point about the costs of open source not always being > appreciated. > > Has anyone tried the two platforms Andrew Darby mentioned, SubjectsPlus and > Library a la Carte? That's the sort of thing I've been looking for but > never found until now. > > Dave > > > On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 9:57 PM, Sean Hannan <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > Again, this not a technical issue. It's a content strategy issue. > > > > Believe me, I was where you were. I was using all kinds of javascript and > > CSS hacks to try to prevent people from getting creative with color. I > was > > getting to the point of setting up Capybara tests to run against the > guides > > to alert me to abusive uses of bold and italics. > > > > The folks creating guides are content people, not web people. Take the > web > > out of it. Focus on the content. Pick a couple heuristics to educate them > > on > > (we picked 7 +/- 2, above the fold/below the fold, and F-shaped reading > > patterns). Above all, show them statistics. And not the built-in > LibGuides > > stats, either. > > > > New vs. returning. Average time on page. Pageviews over the course of a > > year. Very, very, very quickly our librarians realized what content is > > important, what content is superfluous, and that the time the spend > > carefully manicuring and maintaining their guides would (and could) be > > better spent elsewhere. > > > > -Sean > > > > On 8/12/13 9:35 AM, "Joshua Welker" <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > > > > > I just have to say I have been thinking the exact same thing about > > LibGuides > > > for the two years I've been using it. I feel vindicated knowing others > > feel > > > the same way. > > > > > > At UCMO, we will be migrating to Drupal in the next several months, and > > I am > > > hoping very much that I can convince people to use less LibGuides. > > > > > > LibGuides is great in its ease of use, but fails on just about every > > design > > > principle I can think of. There have been several studies on "tab > > blindness" > > > in LibGuides, and don't get me started on the sub-tab links that are > > hiding > > > and require the user to mouse over a tab to even see what is there. > I've > > > tried telling people so many times to have just a few tabs and always > to > > use > > > a table of contents for the main page, but they rarely do. And it > becomes > > > just about impossible to have a consistent look and feel across your > > website > > > when LibGuides allows guide creators to modify every element on the > page > > as > > > they see fit. People will do crazy things like putting page content in > a > > > sidebar element, something you'd never ever ever see on any website on > > the > > > Internet. I tried to enforce uniform colors and column sizes across all > > the > > > guides, but I was told to let it go because my coworkers wanted to be > > able > > > to decide those things on a guide-by-guide basis. > > > > > > I've worked at two institutions that use LibGuides, and what inevitably > > > happens is that librarians create one Uber Guide for entire subject > areas > > > (biology, religion, etc) and then create sub-pages for all the dozens > of > > > specific disciplines within those subject areas. And then, assuming the > > user > > > somehow manages to find these pages, they are typically not much more > > than a > > > list of links that could have easily been included on the main library > > > website. > > > > > > Okay, sorry for the rant. It has been building up for several years and > > > never had a chance to voice out. > > > > > > Josh Welker > > > Information Technology Librarian > > > James C. Kirkpatrick Library > > > University of Central Missouri > > > Warrensburg, MO 64093 > > > JCKL 2260 > > > 660.543.8022 > > > > > > -----Original Message----- > > > From: Code for Libraries [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf > Of > > > Robert Sebek > > > Sent: Sunday, August 11, 2013 11:21 AM > > > To: [log in to unmask] > > > Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] LibGuides: I don't get it > > > > > > On Sun, Aug 11, 2013 at 9:54 AM, Heather Rayl <[log in to unmask]> > wrote: > > > > > >> I have to say that I loathe LibGuides. My library makes extensive use > > >> of them, too. Need a web solution? The first thing out of someone's > > >> mouth is "Let's put it in a LibGuide!" > > >> > > >> Shudder > > >> > > >> This fall, I'll be moving our main site over to Drupal, and I'm hoping > > >> that eventually I can convince people to re-invent their LibGuides > > >> there. I can use the "saving money" card, and the "content silos are > > >> bad" card and > > >> *maybe* I will be successful. > > >> > > >> Anyone fought this particular battle before? > > >> > > >> ~heather > > >> > > >> I'm fighting that battle right now. We have an excellent CMS into > > >> which I > > > have set up all our database URLs, descriptions, etc.Anytime we need to > > > refer to a database on a page, we use one of those entries. That > database > > > just changed platforms? No problem. I change the URL in one place and > > > everything automatically updates (hooray CMSs!). > > > > > > All of our subject guides (http://www.lib.vt.edu/subject-guides/) are > > in the > > > CMS using the exact same database entries. I converted from our > failing, > > > home-grown system into the CMS and then gave training on how to > maintain > > > from there (remove an entry, add an entry, create a parallel course > > > guide)--using the same skills as maintaining any other web page that > > > librarian is responsible for. But apparently that's too hard. > > > > > > So we have a trial of LibGuides. NO ONE here has created a guide from > > > scratch yet, but they all say this is going to be easy. No one will > > admit > > > that someone will have to recreate all those database entries > (literally > > > hundreds) and then maintain those entries. When presented with this, > > several > > > librarians said--oh that won't be necessary, we'll just create > individual > > > entries as needed on individual guides. WHAT?! > > > > > > If implemented, we'll have hundreds and hundreds of entries, any of > which > > > could be out of date and nonfunctional, with no easy way to find and > fix, > > > other than waiting for patrons to complain that the link doesn't work. > > Ugh. > > > All for several thousand dollar a year (as opposed for free in the > CMS). > > > > > > And yes, those librarians' favorite example libguides have a dozen tabs > > with > > > hundreds of links on each tab. Overwhelm the patron with links--who > > cares! > > > Just let me recreate the Yahoo Directory I so miss with every possible > > > resource I can find online. Half those links don't work next semester? > > > Doesn't matter, as no one will ever maintain that page again (and no > > patron > > > will use it, since they will just Google these resources anyway). > > > > > > > > > > > > -- > > > Robert Sebek > > > Webmaster, Virginia Tech Libraries > > > (http://www.lib.vt.edu/) > > >