LibGuides @ UBC

To create a new guide, log in to LibApps and, in the LibGuides Shortcuts box, choose "Create Guide." 

You can either create a guide from scratch by choosing "Start Fresh," or you can make a copy of an existing guide to use as a template.

Note: If you select "Start Fresh" to create a guide from scratch, you will be asked to choose a layout for your guide. Use the drop down arrow beside "Use system default template" to select "System Default - Side-Nav Layout."

Side navigation is the standard layout for UBC Library LibGuides, as determined by the LibGuides 2.0 New Features Working Group in 2017. For more information, you can read the full LibGuides 2.0 New Features Working Group report.

Some UBC Librarians have created templates for use in different branches and units to simplify the creation of their guides. Check out some of the following templates for inspiration, or to use when creating your next guide.

• MAA

​You can also visit Springshare's Get Help with LibGuides for information and step-by-step instructions for creating guides from scratch and from an existing guide.

Each LibGuide must be assigned a Guide Type when it is being created. There are 6 guide types that a guide can be assigned:

• General Purpose - The default guide type and a useful category for guides that do not fall into the other types listed below.
• Course Guide - For guides created for a specific course.
• Subject Guide - For guides created for a specific subject area or discipline.
• Tutorial Guide - For guides created that might be considered a 'how to' for a specific research topic.
• Internal Guide - For guides intended only for internal use. These guides do not appear in UBC Library's research guide lists, but are accessible to those with the guide's url.
• Template Guide - Some librarians create templates to make creating future guides more efficient, and these can be categorized as template guides. Like internal guides, these do not appear in UBC Library's research guide lists.

When searching for UBC Library's research guides, users have the option to search by Guide Type, as demonstrated in the picture below:

When logged in to LibApps, you can change a guide's type by clicking the pencil icon next to "Type/Group" at the top of the LibGuide:

There are five Groups to which a guide can be assigned:

• Restricted
• Sandbox
• Template
• Subject Guides
• UBCO Course Guides
• UBCV Course Guides

A guide's group designation determines which list it will appear in on the Guides Portal on the library website. If a guide is not assigned to a group, it will not be displayed on the Guides Portal.

See below for definitions and conventions for each Group.

Subject Guides

Subject guides serve as a starting point for research on a subject area or discipline. They offer basic instruction about finding and using appropriate resources, as well as general information about using the library for research assignments.

Consider including the following items in your research guides:

• Subject Librarian or Branch contact information
• Links to recommended article databases
• Books and websites to use for background research
• Suggested search strategies
• Special format resources (e.g. newspapers, videos, primary sources, etc.)
• Special topic resources (e.g. Political Science: Canada, United States, International)
• Links to professional or academic associations

Course Guides - UBCO & UBCV

Course guides are designed to deliver information on course- and program-related research and assignments. Content in a course guide may repeat some content found in research guides, but it should provide a more focused approach to a specific topic or question within a subject area or discipline.

A distinct group exists for each UBCO and UBCV to avoid confusion around courses with the same course code and number at both UBC campuses.

When naming your course guide, please do so according to the following conventions:

• The first 3 or 4 characters are the course code in all CAPS (required), followed by a space
• The next characters are the course number (required) and section (optional)
• If there is more than one course that uses the same guide (i.e. LAW 334 and 336, or LAW 307 and WMST 303), separate the course titles with a slash '/'
• Any text following the course code and number can should be preceded by a hyphen '-'. There are no limitations on the text following the course code and number; however, using the course name as specified in the UBC course calendar is highly recommended.

Template Guides

For any templates created, please add them to this Group. This allows us to keep track of the templates available for use and reuse.

Sandbox Guides

Any guides which are being used as practice guides.

Although each LibGuide has only one owner, multiple LibGuides users can still collaborate on guides. Regular-level LibGuides users cannot edit guides unless they have been assigned one of the following roles:

1. Owner - When you create a LibGuide, you become the owner by default. Only one person can be listed as the owner of a guide at a given time, but owners can be reassigned when needed. To share in the creation/editing of LibGuides, guide owners can assign other LibGuides users the roles of editor or collaborator.

• Change/reassign a guide owner

2. Editor - Guide editors can do almost everything that guide owners can on a guide, including adding, editing, and deleting content; adding and editing subjects, tags, friendly URLs, and type/group assignments; customizing guide options; changing the guide's publication status; and managing guide access restrictions. If you would like to add the name and profile for guide editors, you can add an additional profile box. Note that editors cannot reassign ownership of a guide, add or remove other editors, or delete a guide -- these actions must all be taken by the guide's owner.

• Assigning editors to a guide

More information is available from the Springshare LibGuides Help & Documentation site at Get Help with LibGuides.

Subjects and tags can be assigned to guides for organization and discoverability.

Subjects - Make guides discoverable when browsing UBC's subject guides

• Assigning subject categories to a guide

Assigning subjects also makes guides discoverable in Summon. When users perform a search, links for LibGuides that have been assigned relevant subjects will appear to the right of the search results. 

Tags - Make guides discoverable when searching

• Assigning tags to a guide

When you create a new guide, the default status is unpublished so the guide is not available for the public to view. When you're ready to share your guide:

1. At the top right hand side of the page, click "Unpublished", to view the drop down menu.
2. Select Change Status & Share.
3. In the pop up box, change Publication Status from unpublished to published, or make it private.
4. Click Save.

Once a LibGuide is published it will appear automatically on the Research Guides Portal.