Research guides: Waterloo LibGuides for guide authors: Maintaining Your Guide

Guide Calendar

Before each semester

Check links using the link checker.
Review our guide checklist.
If you have altered your guide extensively, ask a colleague to proofread it.

During the semester

Keep track of whether your guide is published, private, or unpublished.
Make note of any updates and changes needed.
Hide pages and/or boxes if information is no longer relevant or accurate.

Guide Checklist

This checklist will be updated as best practices change.

General

Guide type has been assigned correctly.
The Guide has a "Get started" page.
Profile information is updated.
The purpose of the guide is stated on the "Get started" page.
Subjects and tags have been assigned.
The guide has no more than five pages.
- If more tabs are needed, consider creating a course or topic guide instead.
Links are added as links, not rich text.
Databases are added as databases, not rich text.
Images, audio, and video are either public domain or comply with copyright requirements.
Image files have been resized.

Accessibility

The guide and its pages all have friendly URLs.
No tabbed boxes are used.
Clear and descriptive headings are used to aid navigation.
Links are easily understood out of context.
URLs are replaced with links.
Links open in the same tab or window unless absolutely necessary. If absolutely necessary, they should indicate that they will open in a new tab or window.
Tables are simple.
Tables are clearly organized (labels for columns and rows, coding for empty cells).
Captions and descriptions are provided for tables.
Tables are only used for data.
Information can be perceived by all users.
- Images have relevant alt-text.
- Transcripts for audio and video are provided.
- Any attached or embedded materials are provided in accessible formats.
Text is unformatted (no bold, underlining, italics, font changes, etc.), except through the "format" dropdown menu.
Consistency is seen throughout the Guide.
Online accessibility tools have been used to check for potential barriers.

Best Practices: Adding Links/URLs

Items/resources available in Omni

When linking to items available in Omni, please use the "permalink" feature found under the "send to" heading, to link directly to the Omni record of the resource.

For example:

By linking to the permalink instead of directly to the resource, you may help mitigate any access issues that users may encounter (eg. not logging in with their WatIAM credentials).

Databases

When linking to databases, please link directly to the database record from the A-Z Databases list.

For example:

The database record link can be copied either by right clicking the name of the database on the A-Z Databases webpage or by copying and pasting the link once you have accessed the database record. By linking directly to the A-Z database record, users are aware of any licensing restrictions or additional information they may require in order to access the database.

Open Access Materials

For resources that are available through an open access license, please link directly to the resource itself by using the permalink available on the publisher's website.

For example:

Linking to the Omni record in this case is not necessary since users do not require a proxy in order to gain access to the resource.

How to: Link Checker

The Link Checker allows you to quickly find and fix any broken links in all of the LibGuides you own. To use it:

Go to the LibGuides page in LibApps.
Click on the "Tools" dropdown menu.
Select "Link checker."
Type your name into the "owner" field in the following format "Last Name, First Name" to filter to guides you own.
A list of broken links on your LibGuides will be displayed.
Select the pen icon in the "asset" column of the table to edit.
Update and save.