This study investigates whether the platform used to deliver a tutorial matters in online information literacy instruction and assesses the overall quality of an information literacy tutorial assignment given to an undergraduate survey class. The study asks whether there is any pedagogical advantage between information literacy tutorials created in the LibGuides library guide creation software and tutorials created as Web pages. This research question is relevant to current studies of online information literacy tutorials, particularly given the increasingly dominant but under-researched position of LibGuides in the academic library world for delivering guides and tutorials. Two separate groups of students completed LibGuides and Web page versions of the same information literacy tutorial assignment in a university undergraduate communication course. Survey results of these 89 students indicated that both the LibGuides and Web page platforms deliver online instruction content effectively and achieve learning objectives almost equally well. Results also indicated content areas within the assignment that could be strengthened.

Purpose-This paper aims to describe current approaches to and assess the value of placing course-level research guides generated through LibGuides software into Blackboard learning management system (LMS) shells. It also aims to describe the specific technique of such placement in Blackboard Vista and Blackboard Learn shells. Design/methodology/approach-A link to a library assignment made with LibGuides was embedded as a button in the left-side navigation bar of the Blackboard shell for an undergraduate communications course. A total of 57 student users responded to a survey on their perceptions of this method of accessing library resources. Findings-The paper reveals that students broadly value access to library resources from a convenient and persistently visible link within their course shell. They demonstrate a strong inclination to use the embedded library resource link first before using other information sources on the open internet. Practical implications-The study supports the placement of library research guides in a persistently visible position in LMS course shells and presents specific instructions on doing so. Further, this process requires and promotes coordination among librarians, instructors, and information technology staff. Originality/value-The paper fills a gap in the current practice and theory of the placement of library research guides in course-level LMSs. It provides empirical research results on the strong effectiveness of persistently visible embedded links to these guides with a student user survey. The paper also describes the practical procedure for combining the dominant instructional technology programs of LibGuides and both Blackboard Vista and Blackboard Learn.

A B S T R A C TThis study used two successive phases of usability testing to evaluate two different versions of a Communication 430 course LibGuide. The first version of this guide had a longer, more visually complex navigation menu, with more course-related research information directly accessible through this menu. The second version had a shorter, less complex menu that offered less directly accessible information. Twenty-four of the 33 students enrolled in the class (73%) tested either one version or the other for usability in completing tasks that simulate course-related research assignments, ultimately indicating they found the longer navigation menu more usable. This paper may be the first to describe the engagement of students enrolled in a course in testing a LibGuide dedicated specifically to that course. As such, it will be of interest to many academic librarians and instructional design professionals.Inspired by increased interest among librarians from the 1970s onward in helping their patrons both access library resources and become information literate, many university libraries include research guides on their Web sites. With some exceptions, these guides are typically either course guides or subject guides -in other words, tailored to the research needs or assignments of an individual course, or to the research needs of a broad field of study. The content they present and architecture of how they present it may change accordingly. Though they are often created using the Springshare company's LibGuides software package, these guides are almost always designed or customized by individual librarians and tailored to individual courses and curricula at the university. Consequently, the questions of what to put on a guide and how best to arrange that material have driven an entire research agenda for the better part of a decade.A typical course-based information literacy (IL) guide, including those discussed in this study, is designed to assist students in finding information for their coursework. Most librarians, however, do not believe that simply creating a guide to do this is enough. Most librarians make some amount of effort to design their guides to be user-friendly, or, to use another word, usable. As defined by the International Standards Organization (ISO 9241-11:1998), usability is the "extent to which a product can be used by specified users to achieve specified goals with effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction in a specified context of use" (International Standards Organization, 1998).1 A usable guide accordingly fulfills the goal of assisting students in finding information for their class in several ways, such as situating the user's coursework needs in a broader research process, placing searchable sources of information in a context that ties in to these needs, and offering guidance on how best to utilize these sources to find the most targeted, relevant, and valuable information relating to these needs. Design measures to address these needs can help maximize student ability to sea...

The discussion will focus on social networking websites, a part of the "Web 2.0" phenomenon which may be generally defined as personal webpages generated through a social networking service such as MySpace. The Plaza will look specifically at social networking services from different countries and how their characteristics and use change according to the country or culture in which they are situated. For example, in different cultures these services may be more or less representative of a personal voice, may encourage or discourage commenting on and discussing a thought, and may encourage or discourage networking with strangers.This topic relates specifically to the theme of this year's Annual Meeting -Social Computing and Information Science -in that social networking websites and services are and will continue to become a major vehicle for information sharing between people. Such sharing of information is informed by social and cultural worldviews, thus the characteristics and uses of information (and the social networking services conveying that information) are of interest to LIS professionals in that they serve socioculturally diverse groups of patrons who maintain different instruments for receiving information. This year's Global Information Village Plaza will continue to use the SIG-III blog to facilitate discussion on the Plaza topic. This online interactive forum will be reachable by any professional, thereby allowing ASIS&T to expand its circle of interaction and offering the information professional community around the globe who will be unable to attend the 2007 Annual Meeting an opportunity to contribute their thoughts on social networking in the international arena.SIG-III will partner with SIG-BWP to present this interactive discussion.

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