Website Design for Student Usability: Implementing LibGuides at the Bryant & Stratton College Cleveland Campus Library

Abstract

This paper will discuss the complete restructuring of the Bryant & Stratton College Cleveland Virtual Library, utilizing the LibGuides platform to build a flexible website from which users may access a variety of academic research materials, including research databases, eBooks, and journals. The paper will first examine selected professional literature to establish best practices developed by librarians at academic libraries having implemented the LibGuides platform, and then discuss how LibGuides was utilized at the Cleveland campus to design an information architecture supporting multiple academic subject areas to provide a selection of high quality research materials in electronic format. The paper will also address the creation of appropriate metadata (including Library of Congress Subject Headings, abstracts, and tables of contents) to aid users in locating desired materials. The paper will then discuss the multiple ways in which students are trained to successfully use the new Virtual Library, including in-person reference interviews, in-class bibliographic instruction sessions, targeted emails, and short instructional videos. The paper will conclude with a discussion of a pilot project to develop research guides at the course and assignment levels and ongoing work with individual faculty to provide access to selections of virtual library resources tailored for individual class assignments.