The long road towards subject guide 2.0

By Meredith Farkas October 24, 2007
Here were some of the tools I looked at that seemed at least remotely feasible for me to take on:
Research Guide - From the University of Michigan. Wayne State also uses it. Looks good. Was updated in 2006. Was just concerned about how to set up the authentication stuff.
LibData - from the University of Minnesota. Hasn’t been updated since 2003 or 2004. library is not using it anymore. (update: looks like they are still using it; not sure where I got the idea that they weren’t)
Pirate Source - This one was developed at Eastern Carolina University, but is used at a bunch of libraries. The install script didn’t work so I had to create the tables and SQL queries manually. Had trouble trying to get it to work with PHP5. Not sure I like the initial page since people are inundated with choices and it may confuse some.
Subjects Plus - my personal fave. This is an enhancement of Pirate Source developed by Ithaca College. It’s great-looking though it takes up a lot of screen real estate. In the sidebar you can put info about the liaison, links to tutorials, call numbers and syndicated news feeds. I love the “Try these First” feature since students usually just want to know what the very best resources are. I still don’t love the initial page where they choose the guide and then have the option to select the types of resources they are looking for. It’s good to give people options, but sometimes less is more, I think. continue reading the full post

PS. Thanks to Calvin Truong, (http://www.prepme.com/) who informed me that Librarians as Knowledge Managers is listed by Meredith Farkas in her Favorite blogs - List and Commentary. See also: The Top 10 in making in her list.