Modern Pathfinders: Creating Better Research Guides. By Jason Puckett. Chicago: ACRL, 2015. 143 p. Paper $42.00 (ISBN 978-0838988176)

Many libraries offer some type of online research guides to their patrons, and large academic libraries in particular rely on online guides to make their holdings accessible to undergraduate students. In theory, online research guides have the potential to be superior instruction and outreach tools. In practice, however, many online guides do not receive much use, leading some librarians to question whether staff time and skills might be better used elsewhere. In this slim and readable work, Puckett argues that low use is most likely tied to lack of usability, and he advises librarians to simplify their guides if they want them to be helpful to students. Throughout this book, Puckett follows his own advice about simplicity, presenting his readers with succinct, well-organized chapters that define core instructional design and web usability concepts in plain language and explain how these concepts should be incorporated into research guides. Readers are never left to wonder about the relevance of any concept addressed in this book, nor does any part of the book feel esoteric or extraneous. Librarians with instructional and web design backgrounds will already be familiar with much of what is covered in this book. However, Puckett’s ideas serve as a good reinforcement of knowledge and practices used in face-to-face teaching and remind librarians that the techniques they use in the classroom can be applied to help them create better research guides.

Although this book’s strength lies in its simplicity, it leaves out important information about web accessibility and Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance issues. Platforms such as LibGuides are built to be ADA-compliant, but librarians still must understand the basic rules of creating accessible web content so that they do not unwittingly create barriers for patrons with hearing and vision disabilities. Those interested in learning more about ADA accessibility issues will therefore need to look elsewhere.

Readers considering purchasing this book may wonder why Puckett did not simply write a book about LibGuides, because LibGuides is the most popular and widely used platform for online research guides. But as Puckett explains, not all libraries subscribe to LibGuides, so the book is not platform-specific. Puckett’s approach in explaining how instructional and web design standards can be applied in general, and not just to a specific platform, is another strength of this book. (Articles and conference presentations about how to create more user-friendly guides in the LibGuides platform are abundant, whereas information about how to create useful and usable research guides in general are lacking.) Academic librarians with an instructional role will find this book most useful, although it will appeal to some public librarians as well. A good (though considerably lengthier) companion to Puckett’s book is Using LibGuides to Enhance Library Services (2013).—Allison Embry, Research and Learning Librarian, University of Central Oklahoma, Edmond, Oklahoma