[Web4lib] Do you use LibGuides? - questions about subscription databases if you are a LibGuides library

[Brian Gray]

We do not maintain our database list within LibGuides. We really do not
think LibGuides was designed for that practice. We have many databases in
our master list. Within the LibGuides the experts are able to mention some
keep starting points rather than inte iterating all the databases available.

http://researchguides.case.edu/

http://library.case.edu/databases/rdbindex.aspx

Brian Gray
mindspiral at gmail.com
bcg8 at case.edu


On Mon, Mar 16, 2009 at 4:30 PM, Douglas Goans <libdgg at langate.gsu.edu>wrote:

> The Georgia State University Library has transitioned to LibGuides for
> research guides. Now we are having to reconsider the maintenance of our
> database listings. If you are a LibGuide library and have just a couple
> minutes, please give us some input that will assist us in making some
> decisions.
>
>  1. Does your database lists in LibGuides display dynamically from an RSS
> or XML feed from another source? Or are you manually adding, editing, and
> maintaining the lists inside of LibGuides itself? Who is responsible for
> maintaining the master list in your library...a subject librarian, a
> cataloger, the web person, the e-resources person, a group?
>
>  2. If you maintain your lists manually within LibGuides, do you also
> create subject specific sets [content boxes? channels?] as well for other
> guides to automatically include? Or are your subject librarians responsible
> for manually creating their individual subject specific sets within their
> own guides?
>
>  3. If database metadata is maintained by one person natively in LibGuides,
> do they maintain URLs, and database titles, and database descriptions? Do
> they remove old or dropped databases and add new ones? Also, do they alert
> everyone about any of the above changes? Do they perform maintenance on the
> A-Z master list alone or do they also update all the subject specific sets
> of databases? If applicable, how is this different if the database metadata
> resides in an external system that feeds the data to LibGuides?
>
>  4. How extensive is your database category list? A dozen or less broad
> categories? More? How are category labels decided and added? Where in your
> organization does the responsibility lie for maintaining your database
> category taxonomy and assigning or removing databases for those categories?
>
>  5. If your database lists reside natively in LibGuides, do you have an
> alternative access method if LibGuides servers go down? If your proxy server
> goes down?
>
>  6. If you are using LibGuides to manage your databases is it a guide(s)
> that is unpublished and only used to populate active guides? Or are you
> publishing that guide as your public "List of Databases" or "Database
> Finder" system?
>
> 7. Any other thoughts regarding maintaining database listings within
> LibGuides?
>
>
> Related URLs:
>
> GaState's Historical List of Databases
> http://www.library.gsu.edu/databases/
>
> GaState's LibGuides implementation
> http://research.library.gsu.edu/
>
> Thank your for any information you may provide.
> -Doug
>
>
>
> Doug Goans
> Web Development Librarian
> Georgia State University Library
> 100 Decatur St.
> Atlanta. GA 30303
> Tel: (404) 413 2772
> Fax: (404) 651-4315
>
>
>
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