Tips and Tricks

Listed below are instructions and links to help librarians create and maintain their guides. If you have any additional tips or tricks that you would like to share, please contact Shannon Simmons (x45889).

Subject Guide Template

This will give a standard template that most librarians follow to create their guides. it includes the header, footer, table of contents, scope, and subdivisions.

Images and SnagIt

Using SnagIt to make Thumbnails of Images

According to Web Services it is best practice to keep file sizes below 20k (20,480 bytes), as a rule of thumb. If you have an image that is significantly larger, it may be best to provide a small thumbnail of your image on your webpage with a link to the larger image. Following these instructions, you can use SnagIt to resize a screenshot into a smaller, thumbnail-sized image.

Catalog

Linking to the Catalog

This page gives instructions on how to link to the catalog by: linking to a search screen, linking to a bibliographic record, linking to My Account, or including search boxes in web pages.

How to Add a Survey to your Guide

Research Port

Incorporating Quick Search Boxes into Guides

The Quick Search feature of Research Port may be embedded in HTML Web pages and used to search pre-selected databases. Web page authors may customize Quick Search by choosing specific databases to include in the search. There are potential uses for Quick Search in Guides to Information Resources, Course Related Web pages, and faculty web pages.

Linking to Research Port

This information is provided by ITD and explains how to link to Research Port through a category, subcategory, or an individual database. It also describes how to link to alphabetical lists, tabs, and individual articles. Additionally, it explains how to add a quick search or cross search to your page.

Including "Guides to Information Resources" in Research Port Categories

You can choose to include your subject guides in the lists of resources in Research Port categories. Please read the following information carefully. Contact Shannon Simmons with any questions.

NOTE: You may only request that guides go into your own subcategories. If you would like to see your guide in another librarian's subcategory, contact Shannon Simmons(simmons5@umd.edu).

Before requesting that your guide be added to a Research Port category:

Update the content of the guide.
Submit a Guides Notification Form to your Guides Group representative.
Finally, fill out a Request Form to ask that your guide be linked in Research Port. The request form is linked to the Guides Notification Form, and will be submitted to Shannon Simmons.

Options for adding guides to Research Port categories:

Include guides in already-existing subcategories (e.g., Government Documents/ALL).
Create a separate subcategory for guides (e.g., Business/Guides:VBIC).
NOTE: ONLY the owner of the Research Port category may create a separate subcategory for Guides.
Arrange resources in subcategories alphabetically or in some other order (e.g., with all guides included at the end of the list of databases).
NOTE: The OWNER of the Research Port category must be the one to determine the order of resources in subcategories.

Options for submitting guides:

Your guide in YOUR Research Port Category:

If you want your guide to be linked in one of your Research Port categories, simply fill out the Request Form, which is linked to the Guides Notification Form.

Indicate the category/subcategory (e.g., Government Documents/ALL) in which the guide should be linked.
If the list of resources is not alphabetical, indicate where you would like the guide(s) to appear in the list.

Another librarian's guide in YOUR Research Port Category

If you want to include another librarian�s guide in your category

Contact the author to notify them that you would like to link their guide from your category.
Submit the Request Form, which is linked to the Guides Notification Form.
Indicate the category/subcategory (e.g., Government Documents/ALL) in which the guide should be linked.
If the list of resources is not alphabetical, indicate where you would like the guide(s) to appear in the list.

Your guide in ANOTHER librarian's Research Port Category

If you want your guide to be added to another librarian�s Research Port category, you must contact the �owner� of the category. It will be their decision to include the guide or not.

Contact Shannon Simmons (x. 4-5889) to determine which librarian is the "owner" of the Research Port category.
Send an email to the appropriate librarian, requesting permission to add your guide to their subcategory.
If the librarian agrees to include the guide, you can fill out and submit the Request Form, which is linked to the Guides Notification Form.

Indicate the Research Port category/subcategory.
ONLY the owner of the Research Port category may decide how resources should be listed (i.e., alphabetically).
ONLY the owner of the Research Port category may create a separate subcategory for Guides.

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