Let your conscience be your guide:Taming online research guides at the NCSU Libraries
Lillian Rigling and Andreas OrphanidesNCSU Libraries(lsriglin / akorphan)@ncsu.edu
Who are we? Why do we care?Andreas “Dre” Orphanides, Associate Head, User Experience
Lillian Rigling, NCSU Libraries Fellow, User Experience / Copyright & Digital Scholarship Center
“Developing the NCSU Libraries' Online Teaching and Learning Presence for the Digital Age”
Learning Objects
Images by Alpha Design, Vaibhav Radhakrishnan, Meghan Hendricks, and Iconic, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license from the Noun Project
Learning Objects
Learning Objects
Learning Objects
Learning Objects
GUIDES
Images by Alpha Design, Vaibhav Radhakrishnan, Meghan Hendricks, and Iconic, used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license from the Noun Project
Guides are everything.
“Guides” means nothing.
Let’s find: Used and valuable guidesCommon threads
A new way to present content that is meaningful to the user
Analysis
Inventory
InventoryDisciplinary / topical coverage (~45 guides)
from Accounting to Zoology! (ba-dum tish)
Highly varied in scope and specificity
Paradoxical (?) topical distribution
InventoryDisciplinary / topical coverage (~45 guides)
from Accounting to Zoology! (ba-dum tish)
Highly varied in scope and specificity
Paradoxical (?) topical distribution
Course-specific content (~30 guides)
InventoryDisciplinary / topical coverage (~45 guides)
from Accounting to Zoology! (ba-dum tish)
Highly varied in scope and specificity
Paradoxical (?) topical distribution
Course-specific content (~30 guides)
Other stuff (~25 guides)Format guides (e.g., patents, standards, ETDs)
Academic scaffolding (citations, lab protocols…)
Analytics
AnalyticsVaried!
2016 range: 3 views - 504,124 views
AnalyticsVaried!
2016 range: 3 views - 504,124 views
Telling!E.g.:
Refworks: 8701 views
Zotero: 9565 views
EndNote: 1101 views
AnalyticsVaried!
2016 range: 3 views - 504,124 views
Telling!E.g.:
Refworks: 8701 views
Zotero: 9565 views
EndNote: 1101 views
Mendeley: … 184 views
AnalyticsVaried!
2016 range: 3 views - 504,124 views
Telling!E.g.:
Refworks: 8701 views
Zotero: 9565 views
EndNote: 1101 views
Mendeley: … 184 views ¯\_(ツ )_/¯
AnalyticsVaried!
2016 range: 3 views - 504,124 views
Telling!E.g.:
Refworks: 8701 views
Zotero: 9565 views
EndNote: 1101 views
Mendeley: … 184 views ¯\_(ツ )_/¯
Confusing!Lit crit: 30,000 views
AnalyticsVaried!
2016 range: 3 views - 504,124 views
Telling!E.g.:
Refworks: 8701 views
Zotero: 9565 views
EndNote: 1101 views
Mendeley: … 184 views ¯\_(ツ )_/¯
Confusing!Lit crit: 30,000 views (?!)
AnalyticsVaried!
2016 range: 3 views - 504,124 views
Telling!E.g.:
Refworks: 8701 views
Zotero: 9565 views
EndNote: 1101 views
Mendeley: … 184 views ¯\_(ツ )_/¯
Confusing!Lit crit: 30,000 views (?!)
2nd most popular guide (?!?!?!)
AnalyticsVaried!
2016 range: 3 views - 504,124 views
Telling!E.g.:
Refworks: 8701 views
Zotero: 9565 views
EndNote: 1101 views
Mendeley: … 184 views ¯\_(ツ )_/¯
Confusing!Lit crit: 30,000 views (?!)
2nd most popular guide (?!?!?!)
Curses, Google!
Total viewsLo
HiTi
me
on P
age
LoHi
Total viewsLo
HiTi
me
on P
age
LoHi Probably a
successful page!
Total viewsLo
HiTi
me
on P
age
LoHi Probably a
successful page!
Probably not worth the effort.
Total viewsLo
HiTi
me
on P
age
LoHi Probably a
successful page!
Probably not worth the effort.
A librarian uses this to teach from.(We hypothesize.)
Total viewsLo
HiTi
me
on P
age
LoHi Probably a
successful page!
Probably not worth the effort.
Users want this; are disappointed.An opportunity!
A librarian uses this to teach from.(We hypothesize.)
Content analysis
Content analysisGuides that "feel useful"...
Content analysisGuides that "feel useful"...
Address a concrete, realistic use case"I need to find the standard ISO-9XXX."
"I'm looking for company reports on Acme Corporation."
Content analysisGuides that "feel useful"...
Address a concrete, realistic use case"I need to find the standard ISO-9XXX."
"I'm looking for company reports on Acme Corporation."
Offer users clear, need-driven directivesTo get NCSU ETDs… Search the
RepositoryTo get ETDs from other institutions… Search ProQuest T&D
Content analysisGuides that "feel useful"...
Address a concrete, realistic use case"I need to find the standard ISO-9XXX."
"I'm looking for company reports on Acme Corporation."
Offer users clear, need-driven directivesTo get NCSU ETDs… Search the
RepositoryTo get ETDs from other institutions… Search ProQuest T&D
Get referralsBy both subject specialists and Ask Us staff
What fails at analytics and content analysis?Probably about 80% of existing guides.
Typical issues:Doesn't have a use case
or fails to meet an existing need
Written for librarian rather than user
Not maintained / updated
RedundantWith each other
With other discovery aids (e.g. catalog)
With existing non-guide content
that's better maintained
also more discoverable
Creation is always easier than curation.
Developing a solution
Key elements of a solutionSynthesizing content analysis, Google Analytics, and our understanding of users:
Useful content should have a discoverable home
Release valve for niche/custom content relevant to a small subset of users
Sustainable system of checks and balances for guide content
Consider possible future developments
Our cunning plan:
Guilt librarians into caring about the content they
create
Moving “guide” content into new places
Establish best practices for creating and maintaining customized content
Refocus on the userFiguring out a Use Case: Imagine various use cases for your content. Ask yourself:
Who are your targeted users?
What do your users need?
How do you know they have that need?
How will your content solve that need?
How will your users discover your content?
Populate with meaningful contentDive right into content
Don’t duplicate library catalog search results
Link out to other web content instead of redescribing library services
Try alternative ways of representing content (i.e. tables)
When in doubt, leave it out!
Evaluate & Maintain Regularly* Ask yourself: Is the use case still relevant as a whole?
If not, are some parts still needed? If so, delete or update irrelevant information.
Ask yourself: Is the guide used by the public?How many views does it receive in a year? Where is the traffic coming from?
Ask yourself: Is it still worth your time and effort to maintain this page?If not, maybe it is time to retire this content.
Link Check: Check that both internal and external links still work, that the target content is still relevant, and that your description of each link is still accurate.
Update: Has NCSU libraries added anything new to the website? Has the field updated or changed in some way? Are there new library services to point to?
*Regularly: one or two times per year
What's happened so far
Stakeholder CommunicationWorking with guide-creators to understand their perspective on
“guides” and ease the transition, we learned:Some people inherit guides they do not care about
Some people make custom content on a different platform
Some people use guides as a central part of their teaching
Site ChangesRemove links to “Guides & Recommendations” page from main
navigation & other parts of the websiteHas anyone noticed?
Elevated special formats guides:Patents, Standards, Tests & Measurements, Newspapers
Slow guides clean-upDelisting guides with no owner
Combining related guides
Next steps
Create new learning objects to fill gapsImproved catalog advanced search learning object
Explaining library of congress call numbers
More?
Add “learning object” content-type
Wait for database tool developments
New Global Navigation
Guides on staff pages
Questions?