LibGuides Best Practices

Use a Link Asset to add links:

Links added to Rich Text/HTML content are not checked by the LibGuides link checker, which makes it challenging to fix dead links before our users attempt to use them. While you can create links to Rich Text/HTML content, it is recommended that you do so sparingly and intentionally.

• LibGuides Assets

  Information on how to create and use LibGuides Assets.

Reuse your Link Assets

If you link to the same sites from several of your LibGuides, creating a new Link Asset for every page creates more work when you need to change or update information about that Link. If you reuse your Link Assets, you do not need to create a new description and grab a URL when you link to a site or resource you've linked to before.

If you reuse an asset, you can more easily and reliably gather statistics and information on how often that asset is being used. 

How to reuse a link:

1. After selecting "Link" as the kind of content you want to add to your page, click on the "Reuse Existing Link" tab on the Add Link interface.
2. Begin typing the name of the link you want to reuse. This should create a list of links that include the letters you've typed.
3. If the link you want to reuse appears in the list, click on it to select it. Then click the blue Save button to add the link to your page. 
4. After you've added the link to your page, you can edit the link. This allows you to customize the way the link appears on your page and change the description if you want.

Use a Database Asset when adding links to databases

All of the databases from the Databases A-Z list are in the LibGuides Database Assets list with links that work for on-campus and off-campus library users.

This list is maintained by the Resource Management Department (RDM) so that it is easy to identify dead or problematic links.

Using the Database Assets list ensures that you have the most updated URL. 

Use a Book Asset to add a book from the library catalog

In addition to being easier to maintain in LibGuides, the Book from the Catalog Asset can help you create visual interest and include useful information about the book. 

Using a Book from the Catalog Asset allows you to create a link to a book record that includes (or can include) the call number, a link to the catalog record, information about the book, and an image of the book's cover.

Example book added from the catalog: