If you were going on a trip, you would probably benefit from using a travel guide. Consider LibGuides as your MapQuest for academic research at the WVU Libraries.
LibGuides are interactive online research guides that provide links to library electronic resources such as research databases, journal articles and books. They also provide tutorials to demonstrate use of the resources and advice from some of the subject librarians who have developed the guides.
“We designed LibGuides to help students undertake projects and relieve them of the complications of looking through our vast library system for the best resources for their research assignment,” said Penny Pugh, head of reference for the downtown library.
“We select sources and highlight them so students can find them more easily.”
Historically, teaching and reference librarians have always developed user guides. First, they distributed pamphlets, and then they created web-versions of the documents. LibGuides are a leap forward because they are interactive and easy to update to reflect the best available sources.
So far, librarians have created 73 guides that can be accessed through a link located on the Libraries’ web site under the heading “Popular Services.” Also, if a relevant guide exists, many instructors include the link on the course web site or in the syllabus.
The LibGuides’ homepage has a list of subject areas covered and the 10 most popular guides.
While many guides focus on research in a subject area, such as African American studies or chemistry, others have been developed to support a particular research assignment, such as Marketing 325 and Biology 115. Some even support high enrollment courses like English 102.
For the chemistry page, librarian Linda Blake compiled a selection of digital resources and web sites for Chemistry 401 students. The resources would be useful, however, for anyone taking a chemistry course, either as elective or a major.
Along with links to journals and databases, there’s a guide to books and eBooks, information about the major chemistry resource SciFinder Scholar, instructions on how to find patents and links to chemistry associations. Blake also includes information on tutoring available at the downtown library and science and math departments.
For English 102, librarian Kelly Diamond provides a plethora of information that would be helpful to every student. She offers a primer on searching the web reliably, evaluating web resources, following Modern Language Association (MLA) documentation, preparing an annotated bibliography and finding articles in newspapers, journals and magazines.
There’s also a tutorial on a popular resource called CQ Researcher, which contains in-depth reports on public policy issues, statistical and historical analyses, historic documents and primary source materials. It also contains a directory of important government, nonprofit and private organizations.
Most pages also have embedded social media elements such as a video and chat widgets.
“Students can access live chat help from most of the guides so that their research questions can be answered quickly,” Pugh said.
The WVU Libraries began using LibGuides in spring 2009 after Diamond learned about the resource at a national conference. By summer 2009, they had developed 20 guides and used them to replace existing web-based subject pages.
Pugh said plans are to continue to create new guides and to regularly update existing ones.
To search LibGuides, click on the link on the Libraries’ web site or go directly to http://libguides.wvu.edu.
If there is a new LibGuide you would like to see, contact Pugh at penny.pugh@mail.wvu.edu.
-WVU-
mm/03/22/10
CONTACT: Monte Maxwell, WVU Libraries
304-293-0306, Monte.Maxwell@mail.wvu.edu
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