Library Guides: Libguide Libguide: Reusing content

Reusing content - Introduction

Reusing content is a key feature of LibGuides.

You can reuse content, by appropriately mapping or copying, at every level of the Libguides structure:

guide
page
box
asset

Reusing content - Understanding copying vs mapping

There are 2 types of reuse:

Copying creates a duplicate of that guide/page/box/asset. This is independent from the original. You can make any edits or modifications to the copied item and it will not affect the original. To copy content, you need to proactively select this, as it is not the default option when reusing content.
Mapping/Linking adds content to your guide where that content is linked back to the original. Changes made to the original asset will flow through to all places the item is mapped. You cannot edit mapped content (unless you go and edit the original). Mapping is the default option when reusing content.

Both are useful to avoid "reinventing the wheel".

When to copy and when to map?

Copy the guide/page/box if you want to re-use the content, but need to modify it to suit your needs
Map if you want to ensure your content is consistent with other guides, and is auto-updated.

Most often you will be mapping boxes or assets that we use across multiple guides – such as video assets or boxes, or boxes with fixed content/images/links - e.g. the OLW promotion box, library contacts, H5P quizzes. Often these will have an original box on one of our templates such as the AA Asset Source of Truth, the AA RSG Mapped Boxes, the AA RSG 1st Year template etc.

Warning – avoid copying boxes that have assets within them. This creates duplicate assets that we do not maintain/update. The preferable alternative is to:

create a new box in the relevant spot in your guide
go back to the guide/box you would like to reuse, and copy the text
add the text to your guide as Rich Text/HTML
add the appropriate asset type (eg. Media / Widget) by reusing the original asset.