Archive
Springshare gets nostalgic – it’s our 5-year anniversary!
Five years ago, George Bush was president, the Writers Guild of America went on strike, Steve Jobs announced the first generation iPhone, and a library-loving company called Springshare came into being. What a long way we’ve all come since then! As you can tell, we’re feeling a little nostalgic on this, the 5-year anniversary of the first LibGuide. Sadly, that guide has since been retired, but like all nostalgic people, we enjoy looking at snapshots through the years – and we thought you might too!
Here’s the first iteration of the LibGuides home page – thanks to Michael Stephens for sharing this image!
The admin page, circa 2008 – thanks to Kelly Smith at Eastern Kentucky University for this one!
And we saved the best for last – an old 404 message, shared by Elizabeth Brixton. Just so you know, it’s really Slaven’s fault.
We’ve come a long way in 5 years – from one guide to almost 250,000 (whoa!), and from a handful of librarians to over 44,000 (double-whoa!). Many thanks to all of you for being part of the Springy community – you guys never cease to amaze, educate, and delight us. And wow, time really does fly when you’re having fun!
Introducing the LibAnswers FAQ!
We’re happy to announce a new way for you to get help with your LibAnswers questions – the LibAnswers FAQ! On this new site, you’ll be able to look for commonly asked questions and submit new questions that will be answered promptly by our Community & Training team.
Not sure what to expect from the FAQ? Here are a few questions that are in our system already…
Q: How do the SMS auto-responders work? What happens if someone texts us when our library is closed? (Answer)
Q: How do I add a LibAnswers search box to our home page? (Answer)
Q: What alert options are available to tell me when there’s a new question? (Answer)
We also want to let you know that we’ve given the LibGuides FAQ a face lift – it’s not just for LibGuides anymore! You can also find answers and submit questions about CampusGuides & CommunityGuides. To reflect our new purpose, we’ve renamed the site – it is now the Guide FAQ.
Want to see new questions and answers? Follow us on Twitter! You can also submit questions by tweeting @libanswersfaq or @guidefaq.
LibGuides & Learning Management Systems: Share Your Story!
There’s a conversation on the Springshare Lounge about integrating information from guides into learning management systems (LMS) such as Blackboard, Moodle, &Desire2Learn. We know there are a lot of experts on this topic in the LibGuides community, so we’re reaching out to you! How are you integrating your LibGuides content into your LMS? Share your story in the Lounge, or in the comments below!
Here’s a few questions to help get the ball rolling:
- What LMS does your school use?
- How does your library gain access to your school’s LMS? (partnerships with faculty, direct access through IT, etc.)
- What kind of content do you integrate into the LMS – Contact Information? Lists of databases? Etc.
- What LibGuides tools – the API Utility, widgets, etc. – do you use to help streamline this process?
- Tell us something you wish everyone knew about integrating content into an LMS
- If other people have questions, can they contact you?
CampusGuides Transform Librarians into Tech Innovators
Just as the librarians at Johnson & Wales University (Providence) found Springshare tools helped them earn a “Rock Star” status on campus, we’re pleased to report that another library recently earned kudos from their university community. Nova Southeastern University Libraries won 1st place in the professional category of the university’s 12th Annual Technology Fair for their creative adaptations of CampusGuides for educational technology. We spoke with librarians Carrie Gits and Courtney Mlinar to learn how CampusGuides helped foster community and knowledge-sharing across campus.
Q: Tell us more about the technology fair…
The Office of Information Technologies & Digital Media coordinates an annual Technology Fair to promote the use of technology in the workplace. They solicit entries from faculty & staff (professional, administrative, & technology). The fair traditionally has a theme (this year it was be green, work green, go green, live green) and aims to highlight technology projects and recognize initiatives across the NSU campus.
Q: Congratulations on winning first place! Why do you think you won the award?
We have discovered the possibilities with CampusGuides are endless! The judging panel loved the idea of personalizing library resources for students or classes and that an assessment piece could be tied into the guide. The versatility of the box types and page editing settings allow the authors to create the best educational tools for the user’s needs.
We also feel that staff recognized how easy the tool was to use and that it really did help the libraries become more efficient and effective in creating “green” online instructional and subject specific material.
Q: How did you describe CampusGuides to the judges – what were some of the things you highlighted?
We promoted CampusGuides as an opportunity for future collaboration and personalization (i.e., course reserves module, librarian directory profiles, and adding faculty and students as content creators for their own guides). We highlighted the product’s ease of use, that staff with a variety of tech skills can easily build, create, and edit subject and curriculum-specific guides quickly.
The Health Professions Division Library is also migrating many of their web pages into CampusGuides – library staff appreciate this as they can be in control of their department’s content and update it easily, even if they don’t have staff with lots of web development skills.
Q: What was the reaction of the judges to CampusGuides?
We were able to show examples of how each library has collaborated with faculty and other campus departments to build guides that are customizable for their classes and student needs – the attendees and judges LOVED this! The judges perceived the tool as organic and student-centered, with areas where students or faculty could make comments, give feedback and rate the resources provided on the Guides. They even inquired about creating a Guide for their specific program of study or classes.
Q: What do you think you’ve gained from this experience?
As mentioned before, we promoted CampusGuides as an opportunity for future collaboration and personalization. Thanks to this increased visibility, librarians have opened more opportunities for future collaboration and personalization with faculty and students. Plus, with our prize winnings, we are throwing a CampusGuides Authors appreciation luncheon bash!
