I was planning on explaining how to use LibGuides software to make a pathfinder 2.0 but found a blog entry that does it as well as if not better than I ever could. Check out OMG Tuna is Kewl blog for an excellent overall explanation of the tools of a LibGuide. Since that has been done I will do an in depth examination of the tools of LibGuides and how I have used them.
The Rich Text/Images/Scripts option is the most valuable resource for a LibGuide and should not be ignored.
This is the tool used for the majority of a LibGuide (see the top two boxes below).
Or you can add pictures and text in the same box (be careful with images, it may be necessary to resize them or they will break the borders of the boxes containing them). This is especially nice when recommending a print resource (Amazon/newer OPACesque look).
An overlooked use for the Rich Text/Images/Scripts box are the scripts. I have added a (this is not an original idea, I first heard about it from the Ilibrarian Ellyssa Kroski) Rollyo box to the LibGuides using script. Rollyo gives the user the ability to search the recommended websites for a term much like a search engine. Google has also developed one of these but I was unable to get it to work. I have asked the webmaster at NEIU to contact Springshare about this. The main problem with Rollyo is the searcher is only able to search one website at a time. This is why I rather hope Springshare can add the Google search option so the users will have the ability to search all of the recommended websites at once.
Kenneth Liss from Boston College pointed out that we can add tag clouds from LibraryThing using this script option as well. I have not added this feature to the LibGuides I have created because the NEIU library does not use LibraryThing, and I am but a humble intern so will not be with them for much longer.
I imagine many more useful scripts can be inserted (please feel free to write ideas in the comment area and I will try them in a LibGuide and report back).
I will examine the other options of LibGuides in the future e.g. how can a del.icio.us cloud be useful, what are good RSS feeds, etc.
By the way Springshare has a free demo you can check out.
