LibGuides: LibApps Directions for Library Staff: Topic Guides

Designing a Topic Guide

A topic guide should help students understand a research topic and might include:

Important Points

ORGANIZATION: The above do not need to be separate tabs.
LESS IS MORE: The guide should aim for minimalism; don't overwhelm
DIG DEEPER: The guide should provide info AND link to resources, not just one of these. Think of a Topic guide as more of an annotated bibliography than a list of where to search. In this sense, a Topic guide is a much bigger project than other guides because it requires the guide author to do a great deal of research on a topic in order to understand what should be included.
In general, profile boxes are not necessary

Some pages you might include are below.

You do NOT NEED all these pages if it doesn't make sense. In some cases, a guide can be a one-pager!

*ALL links MUST have a description.*

Background:

Avoid: generic videos about careers, clever cartoons etc. Remember students are using this as a resource to do research.

Books:

Limit books to four or fewer. Rotate these periodically -- at least once per semester.
Consider catalog tutorials in print or video.
Add a link to the catalog.
Information about citing books

Articles:

Limit database links to six or fewer. Be sure they include descriptions.
Group databases by general and subject-specific.
Consider adding a gallery box with relevant magazines or journals. These should include images and links to the resource in our database.
Consider resources about types of articles, peer-review, journalism etc.
Information about citing database articles

Media:

Include links to streaming databases/search bar for streaming databases
Curated podcast series or podcast episodes, youtube videos, freely available documentary films, graphics or tutorials
Information about citing podcasts, online videos and documentaries

Local Resources:

Any locally available archives, museums, galleries, recurring events, libraries etc. (NOT necessary for every subject!) Again, use icons with alt-tags to make it easier to visually navigate.
Information about citing museums and events

Professional or Career Resources

Statistics

Websites

Citing

Carefully curate a citation page IF you did not include citation info on each of the tabbed pages
Include only the information for they style used in that discipline
Do not simply link the tab to our large citation page; there is too much information there.

More Help

Black Lives Matter from Wellesley
Notice that the many ways this guide allows students/faculty to approach the topic. It provides information curated by the librarian as opposed to linking the user to places where they can find research themselves.
Transgender
More of a background topic guide. It doesn't shy away from relevant, controversial ideas and resources, uses a novel layout, and includes many graphics.
#ME TOO by COM
While a bit long, it is graphically well-organized, kept to one page, includes graphics to anchor readers in particular pages. The guide is organized around helping users understand the movement.