1. Take 20: LibGuide Design –
What Are the Experiences and
Guidelines at Other Libraries?
Christopher Mitchell
Information Sciences Graduate Student
cmitch41@utk.edu

2. About the Research
• Six usability studies consulted.
• Authors recommend more user testing.
• Largest testing group: 14 undergraduate
students (U. of Michigan).
• Morae usability testing software.
• Web analytics.

4. Common Goals for LibGuides
• Easy-to-find information
• Consistent design
• No jargon
• Annotations
• Personalized assistance
• Strong marketing

5. Layout & Color
• Consistency leads to
familiarity.
• School or library
colors are common.
• Create a “sense of
place.”
• Humanize it. Image credit:
University of Arkansas Libraries

6. Navigation
• Navigation: Keep it clean and simple.
• Issues with the search box.
• Tabs caused confusion.
• Students preferred a short list of “recommended
resources” near the top of the guide.
• Format-specific resources (such as image and news
databases) were better located when they
appeared within a subject guide.

7. Clutter & Information Overload
• Highest priority for
students:
Clean and easy-to-use
designs.
• Fewer tabs.
• Fewer resources.
• The LibGuide is a
starting point for
student research.

8. Clutter & Information Overload
• “Can we find a balance between brevity and
maintaining enough breadth and depth to
ensure that the guide is useful for all?”
• Suggestion: Place the top three databases on
the subject guide so they are seen immediately.

9. Labeling Issues
• “Show me what I need”
• Be specific
• Should we label the menu item “Find
Articles,” “Databases,” or “Journals”?
• Shorter menu item names
• Avoid acronyms when possible

10. Finding Help
• Annotate and guide
• Users consult a
variety of resources
for help
• Online tutorials and
librarian chat

12. Course-Specific Guides
• Course-specific and assignment-specific guides
were accessed much more than general subject
guides.
• As faculty began to see the benefit of guides
tailored to their students’ immediate, specific
needs, they simultaneously began to request
guides for their other classes.
• Fewer reference desk questions.

13. Marketing
• Promote within
colleges, schools, and
departments.
• If more students are
aware of such guides,
they will use them.
• Students use the
resources to which
they are directed.

14. Bibliography
• Adebonojo, Leslie G. "LibGuides: Customizing Subject Guides for
Individual Courses." College & Undergraduate Libraries 17, no. 4
(October 2010): 398-412. Library Literature & Information Science
Full Text (H.W. Wilson), EBSCOhost (accessed February 3, 2012).
• Brandon, Jenny, Kelly Sattler, and Christine Tobias. "LibGuides
Interface Customization." Online (Weston, Conn.) 35, no. 1 (January
2011): 14-18. Library Literature & Information Science Full Text (H.W.
Wilson), EBSCOhost (accessed February 3, 2012).
• Desai, Shevon. 2009. “LibGuides: Undergraduate Focus Groups.” Ann
Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan Libraries.
http://www.lib.umich.edu/files/usability_reports/LibGuidesFocusGrp
Report.pdf (accessed February 13, 2012).

15. Bibliography
• Gonzalez, Alisa C., and Theresa Westbrock. 2010. "Reaching Out with
LibGuides: Establishing a Working Set of Best Practices." Journal of Library
Administration 50, no. 5/6: 638-656. Library Literature & Information Science
Full Text (H.W. Wilson), EBSCOhost (accessed February 9, 2012).
• Hungerford, Rachel, Lauren Ray, Christine Tawatao, and Jennifer Ward. 2010.
“LibGuides Usability Testing.” Seattle: University of Washington Libraries.
http://libraryassessment.org/bm~doc/Tawatao_Christine.pdf (accessed
February 9, 2012).
• Ouellelte, Dana, dana.ouellette@concordia.ab.ca. "Subject Guides in
Academic Libraries: A User-Centred Study of Uses and Perceptions."
Canadian Journal of Information & Library Sciences 35, no. 4 (December
2011): 436-451. Library Literature & Information Science Full Text (H.W.
Wilson), EBSCOhost (accessed February 3, 2012).