LibGuides: Your Research Guide for the 21st Century

Assessment of Research GuidesJaleh FazelianMelissa Vetter

Washington University in St. Louis

Page Hit Comparisons

• Web-based Subject Guides vs. LibGuides Research Guides

• Data supplied by LibGuides Administrators analyzed via WebTrends software

• Random sample of 10 guides• Sample period: September 15 - November 30 of 2007

and 2008

Subject Area Web 2007 LibGuides 2008 % ChangeAfrican & African-American Studies

51 223 337%

Art History 101 929 820%Engineering 114 321 182%History, World 63 255 305%Jewish & Near Eastern Studies

59 136 133%

Germanic Studies 232 460 98%Philosophy 33 132 300%Romance Languages & Literatures

72 156 117%

Psychology 267 639 139%Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies

39 281 621%

Totals 1031 3532Overall percentage change

243%

African and African American Studies

Art History

Engineering

History, World

Jewish & Near Eastern Studies

Germanic Studies

Philosophy

Romance Languages and Literatures

Psychology

Women, Gender & Sexuality Studies

0 200 400 600 800 1000

LibGuides 2008Web 2007

Page Hit Comparisons by Subject

• A link to guides better situated on newly redesigned Libraries Home page

• Promotion of LibGuides on Café plasma screens • Distributed guide URLs at Orientation • New librarians in certain subject areas• Subject librarians distributed guide information• Subject librarians put links to guides in Email

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Contributing Factors

Faculty Interviews

• Demographics– Five faculty members

• Guide Usage– All five had previously used course guides

• What features of the guide do you think work best?• Are there elements of the guide that you would like

to see added or changed?• Do you find the guide to be useful? In general, do

you find the guide is working well as an enhancement to the course? If so, how?

• Would you like course guides for other courses you teach?

Faculty Interview Questions

Graduate and Undergraduate Student Interviews

• Demographics– Four graduate students – Five undergraduate students

• Guide Usage– Four had previously used guides– Five had never used guides

Student Interview Questions• What research methods do you use to find the

articles and books you use for your assignments?• Looking at the tabs, which tabs do you think hold

the most relevant information? Please tell me the top three most relevant/helpful tabs.

• What information would you put on this guide to make it more useful/helpful for your research?

• Would you like to have a guide for your course here? If so, were there classes in the past where you think a course guide would have helped you?

Guide ComparisonsGraduate Student responses:•Popular guides not helpful•Tags not especially useful to them•Liked alphabetical arrangement•Would like to see all librarians names listed instead of featured ones only

Undergraduate Student Responses:•Popular guides got mixed results•Interested in tag cloud•Liked alphabetical arrangement•Would like more information about librarians and how to contact them

Guide ComparisonsUndergraduate Student Responses:•Most liked the pop-up feature of the page•Liked seeing the related guides without having to go to a new page•Several interested in the tag cloud page

Graduate Student responses:•All think that pop-ups would be useful•All like discipline categories•Find by Name listing is useful•Site needs a search bar

Guide ComparisonsGraduate Student responses:•Some like the Get Help box, others think this should live on Library website•Some like the tabs, while others believe they are not helpful and categories are too large

Undergraduate Student Responses:•Most found this page to be aesthetically pleasing•Often could not find guide content without our prompting them to look at the tabs•Some liked the breakdown of larger subjects

Responding to AssessmentLessons Learned

• Students encouraged offering more in-class instruction sessions explaining uses/benefits of particular guides• Faculty adoption is key to making a guide successful and well used• Students thought an email sent to all majors, minors, and graduate students could go a long way in educating them about the guides• Students and faculty encouraged us to create more course guides• Featured Author on Home page was confusing – Implemented change from Featured Author to Featured Librarian

Responding to AssessmentChanges to Consider

• On the Research Guides Home page – – Add Reference Help Desk hours – Add new or highlighted resources – Remove Popular Guides listing

• Suggest adding IM chat boxes to all guides • Add librarian’s contact information on all pages of guides • Add more basic information to guides• Continue adding RSS feeds (consider removing podcasts) • Consider having Basic guides and Advanced guides for some

subjects

http://libguides.wustl.edu/libguidesassessment

Jaleh Fazelian jfazelia@wustl.eduMelissa Vetter mvetter@wustl.edu

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