The UST Libraries website traditionally has maintained Research Guides Web pages. They were designed as research tools to help students and faculty locate appropriate resources, e.g., scholarly library subscription databases, book catalogs, vetted free websites and more. This summer, UST Libraries completely rebuilt this portion of its website, using a new software product called Libguides.
The Research Guides, accessible from the library home page or via this direct link, are written by UST liaison librarians and will give specific suggestions of appropriate sources by format, subtopic, etc.
The new system offers a number of advantages over the old Web pages:
- Tabbed layout for understandable organization and easy navigation.
- More engaging visual layout, easier integration of images, audio and video content.
- More dynamic content with automatically updated lists of new books, feeds of relevant news and article content, etc.
- Easy access to contact information for follow-up with the librarian who helped you, plus integrated chat reference service.
- Ability for users to comment on and rate the resources.
- Ability to be notified if changes are made to a guide.
Many professors have linked to UST Libraries’ old Web pages on their Blackboard or other course websites. If you have done so, please update them by finding the appropriate links from the subject listings. You also may want to review the library Web page that demonstrates how to link a Research Guide to a Blackboard course.
Instructors who wish to have a new guide created for research assignments in their specific courses, or who would like resources added to an existing guide, should contact their liaison librarian for assistance. For more on Libguides, see UST Libraries’ related blog post or contact John Heintz, (651) 962-5018.
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More historic university publications available online
As the University of St. Thomas completed its 125th year, the UST Libraries, with assistance from University Relations, announces the completion of a project to digitize and make searchable additional historic university publications through the ArcaSearch portal.
Titles joining the Purple and Gray newspaper (1918-1931), Aquin newspaper (1931-2009) and early course catalogs from the undergraduate college and the St. Paul Seminary include:
- The Kaydet yearbook (1918-1929)
- The Alumni Bulletin (1915-1919, 1938-1948)
- The Memorandum (1968-1985)
- St. Thomas Magazine (1986-2000)
- St. Thomas Collegian (1905-1907)
Now, historical issues of these resources can be browsed by date or searched for specific information using keywords and phrases. Access to this exciting resource is available through a link on the University Archives Web page.
For more information, contact Ann Kenne, head of special collections and university archivist, (651) 962-5461.
