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You put the Library WHERE?:

Adding research support to Canvas the easy way (with LibGuides)

By Heidi Anoszko (they/them) | hanoszko@uwm.edu

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Heidi Anoszko, MLIS

Instructional Design Librarian

Developing and maintaining Information Literacy tutorials

Including LibGuides

Coordinating library resource integrations in Canvas

Instruction and reference responsibilities for

African and African Diaspora Studies
History
Women’s and Gender Studies

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Instructional Design �in the Library

Information Literacy instruction for all class levels and formats
Research assignment guidance
Targeted curricular information literacy interventions/integrations
Online research guides and information literacy tutorials (LibGuides)

Librarians are concerned with teaching and learning, especially in the online sphere
For decades librarians have taught information literacy instruction, more recently this instruction is informed by the Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education

You’ll hear librarians refer to this as the Information Literacy Framework, ACRL Frames, or just “the Framework”
Here is a URL you can paste into your browser that will take you to the framework: https://www.ala.org/acrl/standards/ilframework

Part of UWM Libraries ‘ strategy over the last decade (at least) has involved curricular mapping to coursework where information literacy concepts are already/should be being taught.

Think of these as critical points in a students degree journey where they encounter threshold concepts in the core research practices of their discipline.
Most recently this has involve targeted instructional outreach to writing and research intensive courses with OWC-A an B designations

We use a modular web design platform, LibGuides, to create and host research tutorials, curate topic or skill-driven research guides, or design guides intended to support specific assignments and course work.

Visit the LibGuide directory to view all published Research and Course guides (LibGuides): https://guides.library.uwm.edu/?b=s

For the last 18ish years, LibGuides have served as an artifact of library instruction or a link we can share in research help interactions, but now we can embed these useful guides directly into the Canvas navigation.

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What are LibGuides?

LibGuides- web design/content management platform for librarians�
Subject Guides- starting point for most disciplinary researchers�
Course Guides- support specific class�
Tutorials- Modular how-to guides

LibGuides is a modular web design/content management platform for librarians�
Subject Guides- Curated resources to get started with disciplinary research

Social Work Research Resources- https://guides.library.uwm.edu/SocialWelfare
A Guide to Psychology Resources- https://guides.library.uwm.edu/psychology�

Course Guides- Designed to support a specific assignment or course work

Example : AADS 215 Guide https://guides.library.uwm.edu/aads215
Please note, it’s best practice to unpublish course guides semesters when the class is not being offered for enrollment�

Tutorials- How-to LibGuides designed to support information literacy and library research skill development

Example: “College-level Research tutorial” https://guides.library.uwm.edu/clrt

For ease of communication, almost all librarians will use the “research guide” or “Course Guide” terminology over LibGuides with faculty and students

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LibGuides: Great if you can find them

Traditionally Students Access Guides

Linked below the search box on library website
Shared in library workshops or linked in Canvas

This makes it easy to

Forget about a guide later in the semester
Lose a link in the many modules of a Canvas site
Forget which class did/not have a library research guide
To miss library resources if a student couldn’t attend a workshop

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Putting Library Resources in Canvas

UW System Libraries work group on integrating library resources into Canvas
UWW Librarians shared their use of the LibGuides LTI
Collab with CETL to set up a pilot and configure LTI
Targeted Launch to specific OCW-B classes in Spring 2024

Connecting Course guides to matching Canvas sites
CETL manually activated LTI with instructor consent

Started with a Council of University of Wisconsin Libraries Working group on integrating library resources into Canvas sites

UW Whitewater librarians showed us their method for embedding guides using an older version of the LibGuides LTI

We collaborated with CETL to identify a way to implement a similar method on our campus
During the Spring 2024 semester, LibGuides were embedded in the Canvas sites for the classes with OWC-B (writing and research intensive) designations

English 201: Strategies for Academic Writing; Music 310: Intro to World Music; and Psychology 325: Research Methods in Psychology.
These classes were already identified for targeted information literacy interventions and outreach initiatives because of their research focus
Don't have formal info lit workshops held by librarians, but do require use of library resources

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The LibGuides LTI adds Library Resources to Canvas Navigation

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Pilot Progression

Fall 2024-expanded the pilot to more courses, by instructor request
Spring 2025-Getting consent to enable at program coordinator level

More consistency for multi-section courses

Fall 2025- Any instructor can enable a general "Library Resources" guide in Canvas

Targeted guide placements continue for research-intensive classes

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Types of Guides in Canvas

'Library Resources' (the default guide)

Anyone instructor can turn on
Basics every Panther should know to use the library
Connecting from off-campus, research how-tos, help

Course-specific Guides

For specific information literacy targets (OWC-B & A)
Made and added to Canvas in partnership with subject librarian
I use Course Title to match a specific guide to a specific class

The Library Resources Guide is the default guide that displays when the Library Resources "app" is enabled in the navigation

AKA the "roll over guide" because it also displays if the metadata connection is broken between a specific course guide and its target canvas site
Anyone can enable this guide, most students will find it useful
Covers the full research process from topic choice to citations; also includes help resources and instructions for using the library remotely

It is possible to match Course guides, LibGuides designed to support specific assignments and coursework, to a Canvas site.

This process is more complicated and involves manually creating, adding, and maintaining metadata values in LibGuides that match the Course Titles of the Target Canvas sites
Connecting course guides as part of targeted outreach was our original connection model
I still coordinate targeted course guide placements for research intensive classes that meet certain needs for library outreach and instruction.

Writing and Research intensive courses
Courses where there's a need for library support but we have a staffing gap
Library "regulars": courses and instructors that the library serves semesterly or yearly, where a guide already exists and is regularly maintained by a subject librarian

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Why Embed Library Resources

Create a more consistent experience for students
Encourages Students to return to their guide throughout the semester

Embedding a guide in ENG 201, 205, and 207 sections in Fall 2024 doubled views/student (1.1 to 2.4)

Filling in gaps between Library workshop and assignment due date�

Pilot program data indicates that embedding a guide may increase the chances a student will return to a guide throughout the semester. These view numbers demonstrate the views/enrolled student for 3 OWC-B designated courses the library targeted for outreach. In Fall 2023 we just encouraged instructors to share guides with their students, in Fall 2024 the LibGuides LTI project was active and we were able to embed guide for ENG 201, 205, and 207 sections. Comparing embedded guide use and non embedded guide usage, I found evidence that embedding a guide more than doubled guide views per student.

Fall 2023 total enrollment for English 201, 205, and 207 (guides embedded in canvas)

Enrollment: 642
Total Views: 716
View/Student: 1.1

Fall 2024 total enrollment in English 201, 205, and 207 (guides embedded)

Enrollment: 646
Total Views: 1,569
Views/Student: 2.4

Traditionally, we would notice a big spike in guide use around the time of library instruction or when an instructor shared a guide for an assignment, but rarely significant return use outside the library classroom unless a guide was an assigned as part of the assigment.

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Fall 2025 Impact

45 Guides embedded in Canvas Fall 2025

11 were the Library Resources 'default' guide

748 launches total (Navigation clicks within Canvas)
8,731 combined views of embedded guide

Not all views come from Canvas Launches

Helped us make new outreach connections
Allowed us to maximize impact with limited staff

45 Guides embedded in Canvas Fall 2025

11 were the Library Resources 'default' guide
Others were course guides paired with specific Canvas site placements

748 launches total (Navigation clicks within Canvas)
8,731 combined views of embedded guide

Not all views come from Canvas Launches
English 102 guide and Hmong 265 (a dual enrollment class) have high views from use outside of Canvas

E102 had 3573 views total, most of which were the result of in-class activities led during library workshops

A few 102 instructors found the Library Resources feature and enabled it, so we connected a specific guide
Our 2026 goal is to use embed the 102 guide in all 102 section Canvas sites.

Hmong 265 had 1114 views some of which came from library workshop use and from use by high school dual enrollees from Hmong American Peace Academy (shout out, they were the best visiting class ever!!)

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Milestones for the Default Guide

Fall 2025:

11*/45 activations were the Library Resources Guide
113 Launches of the default guide

~1/3 of students in these Canvas sites clicked on 'Library Resources'

397 Views (interactions with) the Guide

3.5 interactions per/launch

We're able to track "placements"- activations in Canvas sites, if an instructor bundles all their sections into one Canvas shell, we can sometimes see that it's a multi-section placement, and sometimes we cannot.

There was a learning curve for interpreting how course shell configuration was interpreted through the LibGuides interface

11* course instructors enabled the default guide in Canvas, this was without any formal outreach or advertising—all by word of mouth and outreach by opportunity

*13 canvas sites enabled the Library Resources guide, but 2 of these courses were meant to have targeted guide content. The instructors changed their course names in Canvas and this temporarily disrupted the metadata connection with LibGuides that would ensure the correct course guides displayed in their LMS instance.
380 students total were enrolled in courses with the default 'Library Resources' guide enabled in navigation

A Launch is a click on 'Library Resources' within the navigation of Canvas. After that, if a user click on anywhere in a guide, we start tracking guide views in the LibGuides system
113 launches turned into 397 views (guide interaction) throughout the semester (9/2-12/21)

It is not possible to say that every view/guide interaction came from within Canvas because of the way LibGuides reports its data, however this would break down to about 3.5 views/per launch

This suggests users are investigating the guide and using its resources, not just checking it out

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Library Resources (default) Guide Views Fall 2025

Graph demonstrates guide use throughout the semester, including for final assignments
Very similar usage in Sept, Oct, and Dec (see notes)

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What Factors Encourage Guide Use?

Instructor engagement

With students
With the library�

Library Instruction

Instructor familiarity with Canvas settings (indirectly)

A good example of this is Kim Hernandez' HIST 593 course in Fall of 2024 that had 7 enrolled students and a whopping 328 guide views (which works out to 46 guide views per student)

The following semester, this guide was embedded again in the history 600 course taught by the same instructor. The guide had 31views/student even though it was not promoted during library instruction throughout the term.
Demonstrates the value of having a familiar library resources tab students can return to not just during a single semester, but semester after semester.
Kim is a dedicated instructor who is very engaged with her students, designs thoughtful assignments, and repletely reminds students to use library resources. This combined with library instruction lead to high libguide usage

Scheduling library instruction allows students to put the guide into context and gives them a chance to connect resources to the projects they need to complete. Not all classes need or benefit from library instruction, but library instruction can look like assigning LibGuide tutorial modules asynchronously, short class visits, scheduling a class visit to the library, or scheduling multiple tailored sessions throughout the semester (if librarian time allows for this)
When working with a librarian to enable a course-specific guide, it's really important to be familiar with the basics of your Canvas site's settings pages, especially the Course Details tab and Navigation tab.

I use the descriptive course name on record to create a metadata value that connects a specific guide to a specific class, so, if you change or customize the name of your Canvas site it may cause the incorrect guide to display in your Canvas site.
The Navigation tab is where you can enable the Library Resources (LibGuides) LTI

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LibGuides LTI (Embedding in Canvas) Knowledge Base Article

https://kb.uwm.edu/uwmhd/151628

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Questions and Contact

Questions about Library Research Guides?
Need help enabling Library Resources?

Heidi Anoszko (they/them)
HANOSZKO@UWM.EDU