When designing a LibGuide, there are many factors that I had to consider. What is the content? Is it relevant? How should it be presented for users? There is also the design and creative aspect of the page, such as flow, font, photos or artwork, and layout. Within all of these things to consider, the most important thing to keep in mind is who the audience is and how easily accessible the information is. When the student is new to research and hasn't quite mastered it yet, we need to make sure that the information is presented in an intuitive way, and not in an obscure way so that they have to learn to navigate the complexity of it in order to make any progress. If that happened, it could be a barrier to progress and learning which could turn students off from research and give up early.
Thankfully the bulk of the LibGuide already existed; I didn't have to design it from scratch -- I just had to tidy it all up. The content updates for the Media and Communications LibGuide has been completed. There were hours spent on combing through all of the website and link information, keeping running records of changes and additions, organizing some new content, eliminating dead end links and replacing ones that had updated website URL's, etc. Now I just have to adjust or set up the layout of a few of the sections and, voila! A fully functional and current set of links to relevant information for students to access for their research will be available!
One of the hurdles I experienced throughout the LibGuide reorganization was when I had to eliminate links to many websites that were expired. Deciding on a replacement of a different publication or website was tricky. We have a lot of different cultures and first languages represented by students at the UWB/CC, as well as minority groups who also deserve to see themselves in the content provided in media, so there will have to be a lot of community collaboration with getting relevant and meaningful publications and resources listed for students. If I had another quarter or more time in the week for my DFW, I think this would have been an awesome opportunity to get more involved with our diverse communities.
As my time at UWB/CC comes to a close, I am feeling grateful for how much I have been able to learn and be involved with. There are two more weeks to get some more LibGuide goodness done, including the beginnings of putting together resources and community links that support first generation students! I cannot think of a better or more meaningful way to make some contributions to before I finish my spring quarter DFW.
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