Snakes or Ladders? Evaluating a LibGuides Pilot at UCD Library

Online subject guides are commonly used by libraries to provide information support to students. LibGuides (a cloud-based commercial product launched in 2007) represents one of the latest incarnations of the traditional subject guide or portal, and are widely used across American academic libraries. In Ireland however, library subject guides of entirely local design and hosted on a local web server still dominate.This paper outlines the project management process involved in implementing a LibGuides pilot at University College Dublin Library, including the planning, design and implementation of a new range of subject-related guides. The pilot nature of the project necessitated a strong focus on evaluation, particularly in assessing the effectiveness and suitability of LibGuides as a platform for delivering information literacy support, both from an administrative and end-user perspective. A two-stranded approach was used in this review process, incorporating quantitative web statistics and analytics alongside qualitative feedback from students, academic staff and Library staff.Feedback that was gathered suggested that the LibGuides subject guides were generally viewed very positively by both staff and students. Notwithstanding this, awareness (as indicated through usage statistics) remained moderate during the pilot, pointing to the importance of the visibility, positioning and promotion of guides.     

Holidays and Habits

本刊自2010年第1期起将辟专栏连载英国大使馆文化处提供的系列稿件,为读者介绍英国文化,内容涵盖了假日、饮食、酒吧和英国皇室等方面。本栏目除文章外,每期还附有趣味小练习,另外,Wordoftheday板块每期为读者介绍一个俚语,读者在深入领略英国文化风采的同时,还可学习到原汁原味的英文。本期介绍的是几十年来英国人旅游习惯的变迁——过去,英国人总是热哀于境外游,而现如今,越来越多的英国人选择了国内游。     

To Work Like a Dog

I When you were at secondary school, was there a careers adviser？ Did he or she tell you that if you worked hard you could do any job you wanted once you left school or university？ That＇s what happens a lot in the UK, but many young people in Britain today are finding the reality of working life very different to the promise the careers adviser gave them.