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Librarians at the Utah State University (USU) Merrill-Cazier Library started working with LibGuides in 2007, and USU subject librarians quickly adopted the system. USU is a land-grant institution with a main campus of 14,000 students and several smaller regional campuses and centers throughout the state, many of which rely heavily on online resources. After seven years of working with LibGuides, a product of Springshare, approximately seven hundred research guides had been published. The guides varied in purpose and design, and we did not have a consistent or clear view of how students found or used them. We also did not have a template or a structured design, beyond some general best practices. Over time, we started to consider questions around the visibility of LibGuides, more effective ways to integrate LibGuides into courses, and possibilities of using emerging technologies to reach students where they study and conduct research. While the library had already begun manually integrating guides into Canvas, USU's learning management system (LMS), as a way to extend our online presence, we sought a more automated integration with course and subject guides. Several factors influenced our integration between LibGuides and the LMS. In particular, we learned of other libraries' successful integration with their LMSs, we read about librarians' thought-provoking usability testing of their LibGuides and subsequent recommendations, and we benefitted from the USU Library's very strong relationship with the University's Center for Innovative Design and Instruction (CIDI) (the campus group managing the LMS). Transitioning to version 2 of LibGuides also provided us with an ideal moment to approach issues relating to a lack of structure and best practices for design across all guides. We also recognized Springshare's responsiveness to institution-specific requests and the existence of an open Application Programming Interface (API). Given these factors, we investigated the usability and design of the library's subject guides. We focused on the following research questions: * How can we maximize the effectiveness of LibGuides, both in design and reach? * How can we assess the design and the reach of LibGuides? * What role should the subject librarians play in the redesign and automation process, and how can we develop effective workflows? LITERATURE REVIEW In exploring our research questions, we relied on literature in various areas, including LibGuides' usability studies and resulting best practices, the purpose and use of subject guides in general, and integrating LibGuides within LMSs. Numerous examples of LibGuide usability studies exist in the literature. Most often, they include focus groups or student surveys, followed by a redesign of LibGuides at the institution and a recommendation for best practices. Librarians at Metropolitan State University asked students to complete tasks and observed confusion related to search boxes, inconsistent or confusing language, multiple/complicated tabs, and contact information. (1) Some of their recommendations include meeting users' needs instead of emphasizing types of information whenever possible, clearing up jargon relating to databases, journals, and articles to help lessen confusion, adding a table of contents, using specific names for tabs, and sorting sources by usefulness or by relevance. Similarly, Gonzalez and Westbrock recommended best practices such as collaborating with faculty on the design and content of the guide, monitoring use, soliciting feedback, and creating a consistent look and feel. (2) Hintz et al. piloted a project where students compiled a list of top ten recommendations that was shared with faculty and subject liaisons. (3) Likewise, Little created a list of ten practical suggestions for LibGuide design aimed at decreasing cognitive overload. (4) Similar issues and recommendations arose in another study, (5) mainly emphasizing the importance of using clear language, employing navigational signals that place the most important content at the top center or top left of the web page, and tailoring content to the assignment or intended need as much as possible. …

Extending Our Reach: Automatic Integration of Course and Subject Guides