Introduction to LibGuides

Springshare has created a completely new unified single sign-on process. Rather than a different password for each Springshare service, there is now a single sign-on through LibApps (link opens for Boston College's LibApps instance).

The unified single sign-on is available for a number of Springshare products including LibGuides, LibCal and LibSurveys. Additional products will become available once they reach their respective v2 release.

If you have a LibGuides v1 account then the same login and password will allow you to login to LibApps.

NB: You will be prompted to change your LibApps password on your first login. Your original LibGuides v1 password will not change once your LibApps password is updated.

If you do not have a LibGuides v1 or v2 account then contact Systems to have a v2 account created for you.

The first thing that you'll see after you log into LibApps in is the LibApps Dashboard. On this dashboard page, you will find an rss feed of Springshare news, account information and an instance of your profile box as would be seen by the public. Additional information may be included as SpringShare brings their other products into the LibApps umbrella. 

What is important to note is at the top of the page is a horizontal orange command bar. For those familiar with the original LibGuides this should look familiar. This Universal Command Bar is persistent across all the administrative and guide editing pages that you are logged into. 

The menu options change based on what application you are working with. For instance, to change to the LibGuides application click on the blue drop down and select LibGuides.

The page will then change and the menu will update to LibGuides specific menu options. 

NB: The menu options available to you will depend on your account type within LibGuides.

You might find the LibGuides Dashboard to be quite convenient. Here, you will be presented with four quick-view boxes:

1. An RSS feed for SpringShare news and updates
2. Updates or events that require your attention, such as guides that have been recently approved or published
3. An instance of your profile box
4. A set of links to common tasks including
   • Create a Guide - used to create clean, empty page
   • Edit an Existing Guide - select an existing guide you created or are an editor for
   • View your LibGuide Assets - read more about assets in the Your Assets page
   • Generate a LibGuides Widget - a useful way of creating an embeddable version of a LibGuide page as a Javascript snippet
   • View your Image Manager Library - read more about the image manager in the Your Images page

You can change your LibApp password and other account information from the My Account menu option from the LibApps Dashboard.