LiBGuides (Updated)

LibGuides

I’m having a great time with my new class this semester. LIS768: Library 2.0 and Social Networking Technologies is an overview of Web 2.0 tools and L2 thinking. I’m using the works of Michael Buckland, Howard Rheingold, Jesse Shera and others to frame what participatory service might mean for libraries in today. Another part of the course focuses on hands on practice and exploration. AND the coolest thing is I am learning with the students. Just a couple of weeks ago, LIS768’er Mick Jacobsen shared his work with LibGuides at Northeastern Illinois University.

Check it out: http://libguides.neiu.edu/

This might be a perfect way to jump in for many academic libraries – especially those just starting out with adding some social features to their Web presence. I do have to agree with Sarah Houghton-Jan, however, who wrote about LibGuides here: http://librarianinblack.typepad.com/librarianinblack/2007/06/libguides.html

LibGuides seems a lot like a swanky-looking wiki with a lot of open source features pulled all together in one place. All in all, I think this would be a really useful product for an academic library, especially for a library where the staff plan on creating new subject guide content regularly.

We are creating subject guides in our library right now for our new website…and looking at this product, I am tempted to jump on it. However, because it’s not free, and what we’re doing right now is free, I don’t feel tempted enough to change gears completely to use this new system.

It does seem a lot like NetVibes on steroids as well to me. I wonder what it would take for some savvy library programmer types to create a free system that does what LibGuides does? I think we’re closer than we think.

For more about LibGuides, don’t miss Scott Pfitzinger’s excellent overview at http://www.bibliotechweb.com/archives/2007/09/25/libguides/

Also: http://libguides.bc.edu/ for another example from Boston College.

UPDATE:

Kim Griggs writes:

Enter that tech savvy library. Oregon State University has released an open source publishing system for and by librarians called ICAP (Interactive Course Assignment Pages)

http://ica.library.oregonstate.edu/about/index.html

Not quite as feature rich as LibGuides, but it may be just what your library needs (and its free)