Weeding the Web

Abstract

Content available on LibGuides in the academic library context would benefit from being viewed and curated/edited as individual and distinct collections. Viewing LibGuides through this lens provides academic libraries with a new perspective for resolving the well-documented user experience issues that afflict this mode of information delivery. Novel considerations that emerge from this approach include: a) the value of formalizing a collection acquisition policy for individual LibGuides; b) the importance of creating content responsive to emerging research directions; and c) an emphasis on the need for weeding and deselection processes. Although the author anticipates especial resistance to the idea that content on LibGuides would benefit from regular weeding, from the stance that virtual content takes up minimal space, this paper argues that the prioritization of high-quality, curated content in the era of the attention economy is a practice of prime importance.

Recommended by Librarians

“…Considering LibGuides "as distinct collections" conceptionally reframes how they are analyzed and discussed so that researchers "consider the unique content contained in a LibGuide as an independent information resource." 11 LibGuides has transformed into a publication genre created by librarians with expertise and domain knowledge. 12 In 2016, LibGuides was designated as a type of grey literature publication by the members of the Grey Net.…”