The document discusses the use of Research LibGuides at Monmouth University Library. It began using LibGuides in 2009 to create subject and course-specific research guides for students and faculty. LibGuides help highlight relevant resources and allow librarians to quickly update content. Usage statistics show guides receiving thousands of hits each year. Feedback from students and faculty has been very positive, praising the guides for making research easier and being a useful resource. The library plans to further promote LibGuides and assess their impact on students.

1. Eleonora Dubicki
Monmouth University Library
edubicki@monmouth.edu

2. Research LibGuides
Our goal
 Began using in 2009
 LibGuides for each academic department
 Course-specific guides
 New student and faculty guides
 Special topic guides
Benefits
 Highlight library resources and credible websites
 Incorporate visuals, media, RSS feeds, and tutorials
 Help patrons become power searchers
 Librarians’ contact info for additional help
 Quick updates of contents
 Track feedback and usage – guide, page & link level
guides.monmouth.edu
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3. LibGuides as an Instructional Tool
 Email students link to LibGuide prior to class and link to
Course Management System
 Students use LibGuide during instructional session
 Work through each page of guide
 Demonstrate key sources
 Hands-on practice searching
 Review citation formats
 Student feedback on LibGuide
 Revisions to guides – adding sources
 Continued use of LibGuides after instructional session
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4. Guides: Before and After
Old Handout New LibGuide
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5. Course-Specific LibGuide
Fall 2012 Guide Hits
 HE420: Principles of
350 327
Health Education 300
300
 Instruction 3rd week Sept
250
 52 students 200 163
 Assignment: research 150
paper on promoting a 100
health topic to a target 50 24
audience and a lesson plan 0
Sept Oct Nov Dec
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6. HE Course Link Clicks
Usage by LibGuide Pages
Top LibGuide Links Accessed
Cinahl
Books
15% PBS Teachers- Health & Fitness
Citations
Databases 8% ERIC
28%
CDC Health Topics
Health Source: Nursing
Govt &
Medline
Orgs
18% Hot Chalk Lesson Plans
Home
31%
Healthfinder.gov
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7. Types of Boxes Used in LibGuide
 Rich text – text and pictures
 Links – simple web links, links & lists
 Multimedia – RSS, books from catalog, tutorial
 User Feedback
 Google boxes
 System Content – links to guides, user profile
http://guides.monmouth.edu/HE435
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8. Have the Guides Been Used? Yes!
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
Jan Feb
Mar Apr
May Jun
Jul Aug
Sep Oct
Nov Dec
2009 2010 2011 2012
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9. Most Popular Guides - 2011
IT100/102/150 (course) 2764 hits
Social Work Research Methods (course) 1781
Nursing & Health Studies 1557
Archives 1526
Education & Motivating Nursing Clients (course) 1406
US Government 1276
Promoting Health in Communities (course) 1090
Principles of Health Education (course) 1081
Education 1004
American History 886
English 102 Contact Zone (course) 917
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10. Student Feedback
This information is helpful, because now I am better
equipped to navigate through the research without
spending more time trying to get to the source in the area
of social work. Thanks for everyone's help.
This page is awesome! It makes researching so much easier.
Little to my knowledge did I know that the Monmouth
University library website held so many useful
resources to become a successful English major. After
watching the video on annotated bibliographies, I can
now say that the library website has everything.
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11. Faculty Feedback
Great piece of work! I will make this available to my students
immediately. I think this is a rather unique tool as I don't have any other
source that duplicates it and it makes the library interface much more
user friendly.
I have just visited the link and it is truly superb. In fact, it is so thorough,
that I have decided to raise my grading standards for the research papers I
assign to my students. There is really no reason for them to attempt to
cite Wikipedia.com now that you have made this excellent research tool
available to them.
The web site is an excellent source for the students. Thank you for taking
the initiative and designing it for us.
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12. Feedback from Guides
 Solicit feedback at the end of instructional session
 Feedback goes to author of guide
 Some include comments or recommendations for
additional sources
Feedback – 185 responses
Was this information helpful? – Yes 98% No 2%
How useful was this page? 1 (low)- 5 (high) avg 4.8
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13. Next Steps
 Promote LibGuides
 Newsletter, targeted emails
 Word-of-mouth promotion
 Create customized guides for classes or assignments
 Embed LibGuides into course management system
 Assessment
 Level of usage of guides
 Impact on students’ quality of work
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