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LibGuides: Standards & Evolving Practice

Guidelines and resources for building effective research guides at Monroe Library, Loyola University New Orleans.

Rubric

Evaluate your research guide with this rubric.
Evaluation Categories Ready for Publication Successful as a Learner-centered Guide Evolving Practice
Layout & Style
  • Clear and simple layout makes navigation logical and enhances the learning experience.
  • Guide layout contributes to the learning objectives by reflecting and revealing the research process or other information practices.
Assets
  • Organization of resources is logical or explained
  • A brief description appears below each asset.
  • Teaches learners how to select the best resource in a given context.
  • Explains how resources can be used effectively as part of the research process.
  • Resources are presented in critical context; none are presumed neutral.
Accessibility
  • Meets all content styling criteria.
  • All images include ALT tags.
  • Uses headings (<h3> and below) effectively.
  • Linked text describes the link.
 NA NA
Inclusivity
  • Uses inclusive language
  • Avoids library jargon, or clearly defines important library terms.
  • Acknowledges racism and other systemic biases in knowledge creation and organization.
  • Includes BIPOC representation and resources
  • Acknowledges the positionality and argument of the research guide itself.
    • Guides are publications
    • Guides are not neutral.
    • Guides reflect their creator's expertise and credibility.
Pedagogy
  • Uses friendly audience-centered language (including “you” instead of users, people, etc.)
  • Profile is descriptive and provides means of contacting you.
  • Has clear learning objectives (stated or implied by the content).
    • Learning objectives are context specific.
  • Is process focused.
  • Includes interactive features through which users may participate in active learning.

Note: For Monroe Library Research Guides, we consider accessibility to be a pass/fail concept. Therefore there are no degrees of accessibility on this rubric. Accessibility is very simply the standard for publication.

A Note about Statistics

Springshare's LibGuides platform offers robust statistics. Any LibGuide user may access usage statistics for guides and assets, for whatever date range you choose. Like other web analytics, use these statistics with caution.

  • Avoid comparing usage statistics between guides. Each guide has a different target audience, and these audiences will vary in size, research habits, and peak times for online research activities.
  • Usage does not connote quality. A truly exceptional guide may still draw few clicks if its intended audience is small or time-limited, while a poorly designed guide may still be a popular point of entry for certain resources.
  • Usage statistics may be useful for prioritizing guides for editing or updating. Summer is usually a good time for major updates since usage tends to be lower at this time of year.
  • Guides or assets with few uses may be candidates for sunsetting (i.e. made private or deleted), but low use may also suggest an opportunity to either improve the guide or improve it's discoverability.

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