Digital Toolkit

General Information

LibGuides works very well for displaying images, either alone, with text, or in slideshow galleries.  Any piece of content can easily be illustrated with the built in “thumbnail” feature. The “gallery box” option is particularly good for making automated slideshow exhibits of images that can be accompanied by text captions oriented on any side of the box. Because LibGuides can work well with HTML and CSS, it is also possible to program in special effects such as:

• This platform is versatile and robust, with templates and dedicated content types as well as flexible coding potential.
• It is excellent for streaming video and audio content as well as displaying and organizing text, images, and interactive features. 
• It is possible to upload a flexible array of many filetypes up to 20 MB ( pdf, doc, mp3, csv, mov). 
• The  “HTML view” can be turned on to achieve more complex HTML CSS and Javascript code effects. 
• Its embedding functionality is much more flexible than that of CUNY Academic Commons Wordpress or other theme oriented platforms.
• The look and feel of a Libguide can be completely determined by a template and built-in color, size and orientation adjusting features for tabs and boxes,
• or an administrator can override the template and achieve a completely different look with CSS and HTML.
• Each Libguide account is tied to a “personal image library” where users can upload jpg, png, and svg files up to 20 MB.
• Users can fine-tune illustrations of links and documents with images from their personal image library or with those hosted elsewhere on line.
• The image interface allows for adjustment of size, placement, and compliance with accessibility standards for the visually impaired.
• Unfortunately it is not possible to upload more than one image file at a time, or change the name of a file once it has been uploaded.
• One of the attractive aspects of Libguides is the capability of embedding media both manually (with HTML) and automatically (embedment generators such as Youtube).  
• This goes for many different types of streaming media including videos, web pages, interactive games, and RSS feeds.

• Requires the assistance of an Admin-level user for many tasks, for instance, to set up a site or invite new users to join, or to create a specialized look.
• The lack of a bulk upload feature for images makes it difficult to transfer image libraries.
• The inability to change the names of files after upload can also be difficult.
• A relatively low 20 MB upload limit for files can be problematic for media.
• A new user must not only be invited to create a LibGuides account and complete registration, but also needs to be added as an editor to a given site.