Best Practices for UCL LibGuides

How to add various library resources to your guides:

• Where to add a box within a page (right column)
• Explore search box
• Book list
• Database list
• Gallery of books or databases
• Library Skills Calendar widget

A reusable Explore search box has been created for you to use (see the box below). To insert one in your guide, follow these instructions to find the Search Explore box in the reusable asset guide, and map it to your guide. Note: the subject guide template already includes an Explore search box on the Books and eBooks, and the Journals and eJournals pages.

Check out our Explore guide to find out more about how to use Explore for your research.

• Explore guide

You can profile specific books within your guide, e.g. to highlight new additions to the collection, or key texts in the discipline. This is not restricted to items in our collections, it can also be used to highlight books available elsewhere. Bear in mind that you'll want to check and update these frequently. 

To create a list of books from the catalogue, as on the right column of this page:

1. Create a box in the relevant area of your guide
2. Click on the Add/Reorder link and select Book from the Catalog
3. Enter the ISBN for the item, then click Get Book Info to populate the title, author, publication date and description fields
4. For print books, enter the location and shelf mark in the Call Number field. For ebooks, type Online in this field
5. Add a permanent link to the catalogue record in the URL field. Note: use the permalink feature in the catalogue to get the URL rather than the URL in the address bar
6. Review the description pulled in from the catalogue - remove or revise it as necessary

You can add a customised list of UCL Library databases to your guide, as follows:

1. Create a new standard box on the relevant page of your guide
2. Click on the Add/Reorder for the box to get a drop down list
3. Select Database from the list
4. Search for the database by title and select it*
5. Choose whether to display the database description under the title, or to save space, only when you hover your mouse over it
6. Click save on the resulting screen
7. To add another database to your list, follow step 2 onwards

* If you can't find a database when you for it by name, please notify eResources as it may need to be added to the Databases A-Z list.

This is only for databases that are available through Library Services. If you want to create a list of links to websites, please see the Web links page for instructions.

An alternative to a  list of books or databases, is to create a gallery box (see below) in which users can click on the arrows scroll through a list of books, or databases. See the examples in the right column. 

You will need to follow the instructions in the book list section above to add the book to LibGuides first.

A reusable content box which contains an embedded Library Skills calendar has been created and can be accessed in the reusable content guide. It also appears below, for reference.

Library skills and subject guides each have 3 columns.

Left column:

For the navigation menu only.. Please do not add any boxes to the left column. They show at the top of the page when viewed on a mobile device, above the title. The only exception is in Library Skills guides where the image for the relevant skills theme may be inserted without a title below the menu, by re-using the box from the page for the appropriate theme in the re-usable asset guide.

Central column: 

Main and text-heavy content should go in the central column, so that it is easier for users to read and doesn't take up as much vertical space in the guide. 

Right column:

Generally used for calendar feeds from LibCal, useful links, embedded videos and tips.