Need to log-in?
- If you already have an account, go to the LibGuides log-in page to log in. (Click "Forgot Your Password?" if you have an account, but have forgotten the password.)
- If you need an account, e-mail Marion at mlcar@mit.edu.
Basic guidelines for creating LibGuides pages:
- Follow the web style & writing guidelines already in practice:
- Keep it simple!
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General: |
Follow existing web guidelines whenever possible, including use of color and recommended fonts. |
You can use LibGuides to create any sort of research guide: publication types, subject pages, databases cheatsheets, course pages, etc. |
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Setting up your profile: |
Label the profile box (and all boxes!) wisely:
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Keep your profile box in the top right of the home page, so profiles on all guides are in a consistent place. You can hide the default profile box, as long as you add a new box in the top right with contact info. Contact information does not have to be included on every page of the guide. |
Use your Kerberos ID for your profile shortcut. |
Only include your name in the "Display Name" field. |
If you haven't made a custom profile (ex., http://libraries.mit.edu/profile/darcy), check the box marked "Disable my LibGuides profile page but still allow my profile box to be displayed on guides that I create" to turn off the "Profile and Guides" link. |
We strongly encourage you to add your photo to your profile. Usability tests showed that a photo made it VERY easy to see the contact info and made the profiles stand out. Staff photo use guidelines should be followed. No avatars! Hide the photo box on each guide, if you don't use a picture. |
Changing your photo in the staff directory does NOT change the image shown on your LibGuides. To change the photo in your guides:
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Adding chat contact info is optional. People are welcome to embed Meebo boxes, but color should match with our color scheme (black, meebo, mac, meebome). |
If you would like to make a full staff profile page (listed here ), submit info and photo to Georgiana. To link to your profile page from your profile box:
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Page layout: |
The fewer boxes, the better! Keep it simple. No set limit to number of boxes allowed on page, but if it looks cluttered or if scrolling is excessive, consider reorganizing the page by using tabs. |
1, 2, and 3 column layouts are all ok to use. |
Set a maximum of 5 or 6 tabs per page. Subtabs may be used as a last resort, but should be kept as simple as possible and labeled wisely. Make sure the tab name and the page name match. Don't link tabs to URLs outside of your guide, since the tabs are meant for navigating within your guide. |
If you use tabs, make sure to link to the tabs somewhere on the main page. Users don't always see tabs, so providing alternate navigation helps. Note: When you link to the tab, don't just copy the link to the tab in edit or preview mode. You can either copy the tab's URL on a live page, or you can copy tab's URL in edit mode, and delete the "ae" from the URL. |
When given an option to have links open in a new tab/window, you should usually choose to have the link open in the same tab, since users often don't like to have multiple tabs. The only situation where you should choose to open in a new tab is when you think that user will really want to keep the original window open. |
Choose to "link to" or "copy" wisely. Any time the content should be maintained by one person, use link to (ex., search box on tools page). |
To add an "info link" to your list of databases:
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Why do we have info links?
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Content: |
Less is more! Usability tests show that users get overwhelmed with a lot of content, so keep text to a minimum. Organize your content so that you can have fewer boxes and columns. |
Users tend to choose databases based on names - if the name of the database doesn't indicate the content (like Compendex), they don't go there. Use descriptive words in or near the database titles if not clear.
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Put databases in order by importance, not in alphabetical order. Users tend to choose the first databases in the list, not the most relevant. |
Users get confused with too much contact information, so make it clear by providing one way to contact us for help. (ex., Don't include links to Ask Us AND ask-dewey.) LibGuides has an option for joint ownership of pages, and it will automatically add 2 profile boxes on that page. We ask that you don’t show both profile boxes, since that's confusing and cluttered, but create a new box with contact info instead. |
When new databases and journals are purchased, Sally will email subject selectors, and you’ll be able to add relevant titles to your list without asking Marion. If you need help making info links, ask Marion or Georgiana. |
When we cancel databases or when URL/title changes are made, Sally will email subject specialists. Marion will check to see if any LibGuides have listed the cancelled or changed database and will delete it from the LibGuide, or will consult with subject specialists as needed. |
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Other features: |
Don't use tags feature. |
You can either upload images and images through LibGuides (in edit mode), or store them on the Libraries server, and you can link to them from your LibGuide. If you need permissions, or if you don't know how to upload, ask Marion to do it for you. Upload to:
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Making pages live: |
Make sure to add a "friendly" shortcut URL for each page. If you're making a test page, end the URL with "-test". LibGuides won't let you use a "dot", so if you're creating a course page in LibGuides, use a hyphen in the friendly URL in place of the dot. |
If you want to save an old version of a page, change the page title to include the date, or some other identifier that will show that it's an old page (ex., "Product Engineering Processes, 2007"). Also, change the shortcut URL to "pagetitle-old" (ex., biology-old), and change the status to "private." If you have more than one old version saved, you could use "pagetitle-old-2007" or something else that would make sense. |
Add one or more subject categories per page. |
Keep pages public or private. Don't bother with unpublished. |
No need to get approval to post pages. Tell Marion when it's live so she can update links to it from pages on our site that link to it, including our Site Index. |
If you don't want a guide anymore, delete it! (You can delete the page that Marion made for you originally, too, if you're not using it anymore.) |
Need help??
Want to set up an account? Ask Marion at mlcar@mit.edu for new accounts and small edits. For training or help with larger issues, contact Georgiana at gmac@mit.edu.