Subject guides (or pathfinders) in most libraries evolved from paper copies to online web pages that typically--or at least initially--used static HTML to present a list of resources. As electronic resources have become increasingly popular, those resources have been complementing, or even eclipsing book content in the guides. The hyperlinked nature of the online guides can give patrons quick access to a host of the library's online resources anywhere, any time.
While posting these static HTML incarnations of subject guides makes them more widely accessible, creating and maintaining them takes a great deal of effort and coordination. Managing several dozen files with similar content can cause any number of headaches, such as managing file permissions of different authors, ensuring format and content consistency among guides, and maintaining links to electronic resources such as databases, ejournals, and web pages. Moreover, a 2004 study by Reeb and Gibbons showed that there is a "disconnect between how library subject guides fit into the undergraduate student's and the librarian's mental models of information organization within academic disciplines" ("Students, Librarians, and Subject Guides: Improving a Poor Rate of Return." portal: Libraries and the Academy, Vol. 4 No. 1 123-130).
With new web technologies, however, librarians are finding ways to contextualize subject guide content for students. Following are but a few examples of subject guide innovation:
Gelman Library, George Washington University: Communication Guide
- Name of subject librarian w/ contact info in upper left (some libraries include pictures; see Biz Wiki below)
- Links to "Ask a Librarian" reference service throughout
- Table of contents
- Feedback form at the bottom
- Article: "Was this guide helpful? Users' perceptions of subject guides"
- RSS feed populates right hand column with news stories relevant to topic
- Wiki-based for easier access; author can edit them anywhere he has an internet connection (office, reference desk, home, hotel...) without using HTML or an HTML editor (i.e., Dreamweaver)
- Organizational structure: inclusion of articles
- Search feature
- Wiki format allows collaborative editing among librarians
- Guides very prominently located on the library's home page
- Tabbed results (books not included; e-resources only)
- Resource descriptions are integrated with their ADI equivalent; this provides more info for those who want it, but without taking up a lot of space on the page
- "Send comments" link at the bottom
- Article: "Narrowcasting to Faculty and Students: Creating and Efficient 'Research by Subject' Page"
- Tabbed results page includes books, but not specific content
- Tips for individual resources can be opened in smaller pop-up windows
- Very granular; lets user browse down from a general topic to a specific subtopic to a specific type of resourse
- Database driven for easier maintenance
