Library Skills training online

With LibWizard Tutorials you can create online tutorials with embedded content, including images, videos, Sways, LibGuides or even websites, alongside text and / or quiz questions for an engaging and interactive user experience.

Learn how to create tutorials in depth whilst seeing one in action with our LibWizard Tutorial on How to use LIbWizard Tutorials, or follow these instructions to get you started, and which may also be useful for quick reference.

Newsflash January 2024: LibWizard Tutorials now has a new type of tutorial called an 'Interactive' tutorial. We do not yet have a template for these types of tutorials. See Difference between standalone, embedded, and interactive tutorials (guidance from Springshare) and Interactive tutorials (below) for more information.

A LibWizard tutorial comprises the following elements:

• Welcome screen.
• The main content of the tutorial, which is made up of slide(s).
• A thank you screen with optional certificate of completion.

The main content (slides section) of a tutorial displays a left hand and right hand pane in 'frames'. 

• The 'Question column' in the left hand pane, which can contain text and questions for the user to complete, including quiz questions.
• The 'Slide content' in the right hand pane, which can contain text, images or all sorts of embedded media, including videos, forms, Sways, LibGuides, websites, PDFs and URLs.

We strongly encourage the use of our template to create tutorials to ensure best practice, such as the incorporation of certain elements, and consistency of look and feel. The template includes outline information for the Welcome and Thank you screens and a Certificate of completion.

• Log in to LibWizard and click on Tutorials from the orange bar at the top of the screen.
• Click on +CREATE NEW..
• Select TEMPLATE Library Skills Tutorial -- [Standalone] from the 'Start with' drop-down menu.
• Enter a name for your tutorial, and words to make up a friendly URL. Note: For best practice, include hyphens between words in the friendly URL. Optionally add a description and click Save.

Note: When you create a tutorial, you will see there is an option for a 'Tutorial embedded in a webpage' and a 'Standalone Tutorial / Assessment'. Embedded tutorials add a button or tab to the left hand side on an existing webpage and are useful for embedding context-specific guidance for that page. e.g. Help for study space booking. You require editing rights for the webpage to utilise an embedded tutorial. Standalone tutorials can be viewed via their own direct URL and are more likely to be the option you require for library skills tutorials.

To ensure the Tutorials section of LibWizard is kept neat and easy to navigate, please store your tutorial in a folder. e.g. personal to you, to your team or site, or to a library skills theme.

• To create a new folder, from the Tutorials page, click on + CREATE NEW FOLDER, give your folder a name and click on OK.
• To move a tutorial into a folder, click on the '3 dots' button in the 'Action' column for your tutorial and select Move to folder. Select the folder name from the drop-down menu and click MOVE.

Click on the title of a tutorial to edit it. The main edit screen is split into two panes.

• Slide Content Types (in the left hand pane). All slide content types are listed here.
• Slide Area (in the right hand pane): Shows an outline of the tutorial, including:
  • Welcome screen: Click to edit.
  • Slides: These make up the main part of the tutorial: If you used the 'TEMPLATE Library Skills Tutorial', you will see a slide titled 'Summary' in this section. If you started with a blank slate, it will say 'Drag and drop slides here'.
  • Thank you screen / Certificate of completion: Click to edit.

To preview your tutorial, click on the Preview link at the top right of the Slide Area section of the screen. If you have not yet added any content to your Tutorial it will display a message to say there is no content to display.

In the top right of the screen is a Settings button. Settings include the facility to specify permissions for who else can edit your tutorial.

From the edit screen for the tutorial, add a slide by dragging and dropping the slide type of your choice from the 'Slide Content Types' left hand pane to the 'Slide Area'. Click on the Edit field button (pencil and paper) to edit an existing slide.

When you add a slide, a pop-up appears for you to decide on settings for your slide:

• Enter a title for the slide. This title will appear at the top of the slide when a user views your tutorial.
• Other settings will depend on the type of media you selected to have on the slide:
  • A guide from LibGuides. e.g. a UCL Subject Guide or LibrarySkills@UCL guide. Select the LibGuide from the drop-down menu and click Save. (Note: to display a particular page or box within a LibGuide, use the 'Website/URL' option - see below).
  • Website/URL: Enter the URL of the website and select the iFrame Error Help Text Type. Note: A website will only be displayed if it can be embedded in an iframe. For websites that do not display, we recommend selecting the Medium or Large text type. For websites that do display correctly, select Small text type. You can alter the settings later as required. Then click Save.
  • An image: Drag and drop an image file, or click and choose an image file. We recommend you leave the image size blank (default) so it is responsive to the size of the screen. Make sure you add alternate text and click on Save.
  • PDF: Drag and drop a PDF file, or click and choose a PDF file. Please ensure the PDF file is accessible by testing it before hand using Blackboard Aly in Moodle. Click on Save.
  • Embedded media, e.g. Video from UCL MediaCentral, Sway, LibCal calendar feed. Paste the embed code and click Save. Note: Microsoft Stream is not supported on LibWizard Tutorials - please upload your video to UCL Media Central
  • Custom content, e.g. written text which may also include images and hyperlinks. Click 'Open editor'. Enter text, which may include images. Please follow accessibility guidance e.g. utilising headings, adding alt text to images..

Once you have created the slide, you are taken to the slide editing screen. To alter the settings for the slide content, click on the Edit slide content button at the top right of the 'Slide Workpad' area of the screen.

The slide editing screen is split into two panes:

• The left hand pane, which has two tabs:
  • Fields tab: Lists all the fields you can insert to the 'Question column' of your tutorial, including text (which can include images and links), questions and formatting options.
  • Bank tab: Re-use questions from the question bank and add them to the 'Question column'. Note: the question bank includes questions for Forms, Surveys and Quizzes. Quiz questions are prefixed with 'Quiz'.
• The 'Slide Workpad', (right hand pane). Lists the elements of the slide with the 'Slide Content' first, followed by each of the fields that you insert to appear in the 'Question column'.

To preview the Slide Content, click on the green 'Slide Content Preview' bar. To edit the Slide Content, click on the Edit Slide Content button.'.

Tip: Think carefully about how much content to add to the 'Question column', in line with our best practices.

Content in the 'Question column' is made up of a series of 'fields', which you add by clicking and dragging them to the appropriate position on the Slide Workpad. Fields are either questions or options for formatting the column, including adding textboxes. There are four types of fields:

• Basic: Questions that have free text answers, with a choice of text, numbers or date.
• Multiple choice: Various types of multiple choice questions.
• Utility: Formatting options, like line separators and vertical space as well as text boxes.
• Submitter: Questions for collecting data about the learner. These cannot be graded.

When you drag a field to the Slide Workpad, a pop-up window appears with options for you to complete within three tabs:

• Display Properties: This is for the main content of a field, such as a question, text or image. You can also check boxes to specify whether an answer to a question is required or whether the content is hidden. Hidden questions will only display when a learner inputs a particular answer to a previous question. (See 'Using field rules').
  Tip: Ensure the 'Default value' is set correctly. This is the answer to a question that will appear or be selected by default. In most cases you would be best having no default answer.
• Answer Properties: Enter or select the correct answer and settings which will determine the behaviour of the tutorial depending on the answer the learner submits.
  Tip: Think carefully whether to select 'Require correct answer to continue'. If you are expecting your learners to return to your tutorial for reference, it could be frustrating to have to enter answers to all the questions in order to return to a particular point of the tutorial.
  Tip: It is good practice to provide informative feedback to question responses to explain the answer and reinforce the learning point. You can add feedback for each individual question and / or different messages depending on whether the answer is correct or wrong. .
• Advanced customisation: Advanced formatting options for question fields. You are unlikely to need to alter these.

Tip: Hover over the information 'i' icons to find out more about each field.

Once you have completed all the relevant information, click on Save.

To preview your slide with the Question Column, click on the blue Preview link to the top right of the Slide Wordpad.

To return to the Tutorial editing screen, click on Back to tutorial.

When you click to edit the Thank you screen / Certificate of completion, a pop-up window appears with two tabs:

1. Thank You Screen

If you use the 'TEMPLATE Library Skills Tutorial' you will find that the Thank you screen has been pre-populated with suggested outline text that you can edit and customise.

Below the editing box for the Thank you screen are various options, including:

• Display grade: If you have questions in your tutorial with correct answers set, the tutorial is automatically graded and you have the option to display the learner's final grade. All questions have equal weighting.
• Display correct answers and patron answers table: This displays a summary table of the correct answers and the answers the learner inputted. We recommend including this as it is a useful learning summary for the learner.

2. Certificate of completion

If you use the 'TEMPLATE Library Skills Tutorial' you will find that the Certificate of Completion has already been formatted, including a UCL LCCOS banner. You can edit and customise it further if you wish:

• Select for the certificate only to appear where the learner has achieved a defined grade. Toggle the Display certificate based on threshold button and select the minimum grade required.
• Add text, links, images, formatting, etc.
• Add information about the learner's responses in the tutorial. This is useful if you want to give the learner a summary of their responses where the questions did not have correct answers set. E.g. if you asked their confidence level. On the right hand side of the screen are boxes listing field codes for all the variables based on the learner's responses, including the responses themselves. Click on the relevant field code to copy it, and then paste it into the certificate, adding appropriate accompanying text to put it in context.

You can preview the certificate by scrolling down to below the editing box.

Tip: The learner can choose to Print, Email or download a PDF of their certificate of completion. If they email the certificate it sends a link to access the certificate within LibWizard. You should therefore never delete any responses to Tutorials or learners will not be able to access their certificate of completion from the email.

Field rules allow you to show or hide other fields depending on a user's response to a question. This can be useful if you want to have a follow up question that will vary depending on the learner's response to an initial question. 

E.g. You could have a question that asks if the learner would like to find out more about a particular topic, and choose to show content from a 'Text block' field if they select 'Yes', but to keep that 'Text block' hidden if they answer 'No'. 

Field rules work best with multiple choice questions, where they have defined answers. It's a good idea to plan your questions carefully before launching in and adding field rules.

Tip: You can only hide fields within the question column, you cannot hide or skip slide content. This means that if you create a rule that hides all content in the question column of any slide, the learner will still need to progress through that slide and may therefore see a blank question column. It can be easiest if you only use field rules to show or hide fields within the same slide.

To apply field rules:

• From the 'slide editing' screen, click on the Fields tab in the left hand column and then on the Field Rules button at the bottom of the column.
• Click on the Add rule button.
• Select the question to which you wish to apply the rule from the drop-down menu after 'If'. Select appropriate parameters and then select which content you wish to show or hide.

Note: You will need to make any fields you wish to appear hidden until the learner selects a particular response to be hidden by default:

• Click on the Edit field (pencil and square icon) for the question you wish have hidden by default.
• Scroll down and check the 'Hidden' checkbox.

To share a standalone tutorial, from the tutorial editing screen click on the Share / URL button, then:

• Copy the Friendly URL to share or add as a link to an existing webpage,,
  OR
• Copy the embed code to display a button to the left of on an existing webpage which will open a new window displaying the tutorial. 

Note: The embed code cannot be used to embed a tutorial as content on a webpage.

From the editing screen, click on the View Reports button to see all submission data from learners. You can search submissions, filter them with the 'Advanced filters' or export the responses as a CSV file.

There are two formats for LibWizard tutorials:

• Standalone Tutorial / Assessment is the format you require if you are creating a library skills tutorial. They can be viewed via their own direct URL.
• Tutorial embedded in a webpage enables you to embed context-specific guidance via a tab on an existing webpage for which you have editing rights. e.g. Help for study space booking, or for feedback on a page.

To create an embedded tutorial:

• Log in to LibWizard and click on Tutorials from the orange bar at the top of the screen.
• Click on +CREATE NEW..
• Under 'Tutorial type' select Tutorial embedded in a webpage.
• Enter a name for your tutorial. Optionally add a description and click Save.

With an embedded tutorial, the 'Question column' is all that will display, and it will be overlaid on the webpage in which you have embedded it. In effect, an embedded tutorial therefore only has one 'slide', although the 'Question column' can have multiple pages if you insert a 'Question page break' field. The slide content of this one slide will be the LibGuide or webpage URL on which the tutorial will be embedded. 

• Drag the appropriate 'Slide Content Type' ('A guide from LibGuides' or 'Website / URL') to the 'Slide Area' pane. 
• Enter a title for your slide.
• Select the LibGuide or enter the URL for the website on which you wish the embedded tutorial to appear. Note: This is only for reference. You will still need to add embed code to the target website (see below).
• Click on Save.
• Add fields as required to your tutorial.

To change the text on the button that will appear on the LibGuide or webpage:

• From the 'Edit tutorial' screen, click on the Settings button.
• From the left menu, click on Widget settings and code.
• In the 'Button text' box, add whatever text you wish to appear on the button.

To get the code to embed the tutorial in a LibGuide or webpage:

• From the 'Edit tutorial' screen, click on the Settings button.
• From the left menu, click on Widget settings and code.
• Scroll down and click on the Copy widget code button.

To embed the tutorial in a LibGuide:

• Create a box on the page of the LibGuide where you want the button to appear.
• Give the box a name and ensure you check the Floating box option so the box will have no header and will not be visible.
• Click on Save.
• Click on the Add / Reorder button and select Media / Widget.
• Enter a name (this will not be seen by the viewer) and paste the embed code into the box. Click on Save.

Note: The tutorial button will be seen only on the page on which it is embedded. Unlike other asset types, LibWizard Item assets are not added to your assets library and cannot be reused. If you want the button to appear on every page of the LibGuide, you will need to re-use the box on each page of the LibGuide.

Interactive tutorials are a new feature as of 2024. These tutorials can have image slides that include interactions, such as quiz questions, as well as video slides (video slides cannot include interactions). They are standalone and can include a Welcome page and a Thank you / Certificate of completion page. They are an option for creating an interactive tutorial where you do not wish to have a separate pane on the left, and have flexibility to make them visually appealing.

Image slides:

• Upload an image, select it from Image Manager, link to an image on the web or choose a colour. The image / colour becomes the background to your slide.
  • Only one image can be used per slide - you cannot overlay or add multiple images;
  • A template image slide can be created, which can then be applied to all slides but can be over-ridden for individual slides.
• Add interactions (note that interactions cannot be timed; everything will appear on the slide at once):
  • Annotation / Callout - This is like a text box where you can add explanation or instructions, which can include links. You can format the box so you can select colour, size and position.
  • Hotspot - Pulsing spot on the screen which when clicked shows a text box. The text box can include links, but no images. Hotspots are useful if you want to explain different things in an image, e.g. a screenshot of a database. Hotspots can be any colour, but you cannot change the size.
  • Questions - Creates a box into which you can then add questions, such as quiz questions. Questions can be positioned anywhere on the slide. Go to 'Manage fields' to add questions in a similar way to a standalone tutorial. 
  • Widget - use to embed media, e.g. a video, in your slide. Note: Embed code from UCL Media Central only works if you select a video size when copying the embed code in UCL Media Central. YouTube and Vimeo are options that also work. Note, however, that videos embedded in an image slide are a fixed size and not responsive, which means they do not adapt to fit the size of your screen and therefore have accessibility issues.

Video slides:

These allow you simply to embed a full screen video into a slide using the video URL. Note that the video URL from UCL Media Central does not work. YouTube and Vimeo are options that do work.

Why use LibWizard Interactive?

LibWizard Interactive could be a good choice for making a simple tutorial which uses flat images – for example, hotspots on a map, or learning to understand the different components of a full reference, or recognising the different elements of how a complex search history is displayed in a database. It can also be used to create a simple Library self-guided tour.

Be sure to follow our best practices when creating LibWizard tutorials. If creating a tutorial that will be made openly available on our webpages, you must use the Library Skills Tutorial template, and we recommend using it in any other instances too. The template will help you with best practice, but you should still ensure you are familiar with the following when you create content for the tutorial.

1. As with any online tutorial or lesson, ensure you plan and design it effectively, especially considering your desired learning outcomes and how you will incorporate assessment of those learning outcomes so the learner knows they have understood and can apply the concepts. The LibrarySkills@UCL Online library skills developers toolkit can help with this.
2. Make it clear what the learning objectives are at the start of the tutorial, and summarise them at the end.
3. At the start, include an indication as to how long the tutorial is likely to take.
4. Include instructions on how to use the tutorial.
5. Include images to make it engaging and memorable.
6. If embedding videos, ensure you follow our Best practice guidance: library skills videos.
7. Think carefully about what type of content to include in the 'Question column' and the 'Slide content':
   1. Where the slide content is a LibGuide, website, image or PDF that has not been designed specifically for use with the tutorial, the question column can be used for information, teaching points, instruction and questions.
   2. Where the slide content contains informational / instructional content, such as embedded media (videos or Sways) or custom content (text), keep text in the question column to a minimum, restricting it to instructional content relating to the tutorial and for questions. Having information relating to the learning points in both the question column and the slide area can be confusing and overwhelming.
8. Design effective multiple choice questions for assessing learning outcomes, including constructive feedback comments based on the learner's answer.
9. Include a question asking for the learner to give their name if they would like a certificate of completion. If you do not wish to provide a certificate of completion, you can set it to 'Inactive'. 
10. Include a question asking the learner their status. This will help us identify who is using our tutorials.
11. Include a link to a feedback form: Link to the 'LibrarySkills@UCL online tutorials: your feedback' LibWizard Survey feedback form with a custom URL created with the title of the tutorial pre-populated. See our guidance on using Feedback Surveys.