StaffGuide: LibApps Guide

Guidance and tips for working with Springshare LibApps

About LibCal

LibCal contains five separate modules that allow the libraries to schedule and book events, locations, librarians, and equipment.

  • Spaces
    • the room booking system used by all Uof A students, faculty, and staff to book study rooms and flex spaces. 
    • public link to Spaces is https://uark.libcal.com/reserve
  • Events
    • the calendar system to show lectures, classes, meetings, or other events in the library
    • interacts with Spaces to book locations used for events
    • public link to Events is https://uark.libcal.com/calendar/
  • Appointments
    • a system to "book" subject librarians or specialists for consultations or meetings
    • public link to Appointments is https://uark.libcal.com/appointments but most students will use a link on a librarian's profile in LibGuides
  • Equipment
    • not yet in use, can be used to reserve special items such as cameras or laptops
  • Hours
    • used to determine availability of Spaces
    • public link to Hours is on the library home page:  https://libraries.uark.edu/hours/

 

Events: Two Events Calendars

  • External Events Mullins Library Calendar
    • used for instruction, outreach, and other public events
    • the calendar is linked from the library home page and is visible to the public:  https://uark.libcal.com/calendar/
  • Internal Events Mullins Library Calendar
    • used for faculty, staff and department meetings, interviews, library gatherings etc.

See the linked document, below for more details.

Events: Using LibCal for Meetings, Events, and Classes

  1. Login to your LibApps account and navigate to the LibCal home page
  2. Choose Events on the orange menu bar and then select the appropriate Mullins Library Calendar (external or internal).  
  3. Choose Add New Event.

Add an event on LibCal

  1.  

4. Event Date/Time Enter date, start and end time.

  • Be careful abotu am and pm start times.
  • If needed, give yourself 15 minutes or less of “padding” time before or after the event.
  • Be polite to others and don’t over pad. Creating a repeating event? Please specify end date no more than a year away.

5. Title & Event Info

  • Give the Event a title and description.
  • For classes it is helpful to use the class abbreviation and number, example, HIST 1234.  
  • More Info used to link to external information or add program notes.  
  • If desired, link the event to a custom LibGuide.
  • If desired, create a friendly URL to make your event easier to share.

6. Location

In-Person Events

  • Choose a location for your event and then click "Check Availability." 
    Choose Physical Location in LibCal
  • If there is a clash, look for an alternate location. 
    Event location is already booked in LibCal: clash!
  • If the event is outside of library spaces, choose "other" and provide the location details in the event description. 

Online Events

  • If your LibCal is authorized to use your Microsoft Teams account (see below) then choose the option for Online Event via Microsoft Teams.
    • Registration is required for this option.
    • the Team link will automatically be generated by LibCal.
  • If you prefer a different online platform, then choose the option for Online Event via Facebook Live (or other)
    • Enter the access URL for the event.  Note that unless you require a PIN or passcode, this URL is visible to all.
    • If you require a password or PIN, then the event must have registrations enabled.
  • A third option is to just choose no online location and use instead the Physical Location of "Virtual." 
    • Require registration and send the registrants login information manually. 
7. Event Details  
  • Note that you can have both presenter and organizer. If both are the same, leave presenter blank. It’s a good idea to put contact information for an external presenter in the internal notes field
  • We are not using Audiences or anticipated attendance at this time
  • Choose the Category of your event. The category determines which events are displayed from the home page (library meetings, for instance, do not display)
  • Please do not select alternate colors
  • We are not using Geolocation at this time. After renovation for sure!
  • Attach any associated documents as needed.

8. Registration

Under Event Registration, click the checkbox for “Registration is Required” and then some options appear:

  • Set maximum seats.
  • Enable LibAuth authentication for OpenAthens if you wish to allow registration from UARK students, faculty, and staff only. This will auto-populate name and email if the user has already logged in to email, Blackboard, etc.  
  • Set a custom time for registration to open and close or leave at defaults.  
  • Don’t recommend multiple attendees.
  • Enable a waiting list if desired. Those on the waiting list are automatically enrolled if someone else cancels.
  • Set the bcc for yourself if you want to receive a notice every time someone has registered.  
  • Set the email reminder time period.  
  • Set a follow up email if desired (follow up email provides your contact info for questions). 

9. Publish your Event - or Save as Draft

  • For internal meetings, candidate presentations, and other non-public events, please book in the Internal Events Mullins Library Calendar
  • For public events, book in the External Events Mullins Library Calendar, and your event will appear on the public library calendar.
  • You’ll get an email confirmation from alerts@mail.libcal.com
You can manage / edit / update future events by:

Choosing an event from the public calendar and choosing Login to LibApps Or logging in to your LibCal Account and choosing Calendars > Mullins Library Calendar  > choose an event to modify. (Only LibCal admins can delete past events)   

To Modify event details, click the Modify Event button. Note that you also have the options to copy or delete the event there. 

If you are using the registration function, click Manage Event to view or email attendees, add an attendee manually, or to view event statistics and add a note after an event.

 

Event Explorer

Log in to your libcal account and choose Calendars > Mullins Library Calendar  > Event Explorer to search for events by a number of criteria. Limit to yourself as organizer to see a spreadsheet of your own events: 

Event Display

From the Library Calendar, users can click on the event to see details and a registration button:

OR you can share the event URL with others, example: https://uark.libcal.com/event/4694252. You can get the event URL by going to Modify event in LibCal admin.

The default registration form is very minimal. You can add more questions to the email template you are using for the event, if needed.

If you have enabled LibAuth authentication, the form will automatically be filled in for name and email

 

Appointments

About Appointments

The Appointments module allows you to set up availability for in-person or online meetings with students, faculty, and staff, for example, for research consultations.  Essentially, Appointments make librarians "bookable" just like a space.

Appointments are organized in locations, groups, and categories.  Examples

Locations: Mullins Library or Online

Groups: Research Consultation or OER Consultation

Categories: Research Consultation 60 minutes or Research Consultation 30 minutes

A person can be associated with specific categories - for instance Research Consultation 60 Minutes and Zotero Office Hours.

Appointments public page - all locations and categories https://uark.libcal.com/appointments?lid=6812

Setting Up Appointments

  1. Confirm that you have access to use Appointments.  Email libweb@uark.edu if you need access.
     
  2. Integrate your Outlook Calendar and Appointments (recommended)
    This integration will allow your Outlook calendar to block appointments when you are already busy and will put new appointments on your Outlook calendar. 
    1. In LibCal, navigate to Appointments and then choose the tab for Integrations
    2. Under Outlook/Exchange Settings, authorize Appointments by signing into your campus account.
    3. Be sure and choose the default calendar (usually "Calendar") to sync. 
    4. Set Check Outlook/Exchange Unavailable Times to yes. 
       
  3. Integrate your MS Teams with LibCal (optional)
    This integration will allow Appointments in Online locations to automatically generate a Teams link in the confirmation message to the requester.  (If you prefer to use Zoom, just paste a Zoom room link into your message templates)
    1. In LibCal, navigate to your account name (email address) in the upper right hand corner.  Click on it. 
    2. Choose the tab for Integrations. 
    3. Authorize LibCal to use your MS Teams account.  
      Problems?  We occasionally have to ask campus IT for assistance adding individuals to the Teams integration.  Email libweb@uark.edu for help. 
       
  4. Configure your availability. 
    1. In LibCal, navigate to Appointments and click on the Availability tab.
    2. Create your availability for each location (Online or Mullins Library) and save.
      Note that if your end date is the end of the semester,you will need to return and set up new available times for the next semester. 
    3. Confirm that your availability is configured by choosing the My Appointments tab.
      1. You can also view your public page from the My Appointments tab. 

Add a Schedule Button to your LibApps Profile Box

  1. In LibCal, navigate to Appointments and choose the tab for Widget/Embed Code. 
  2. Create a button widget type.
  3. You'll probably want to show only yourself.
  4. Give the button test a title.
  5. For colors, our style sheet is
    1. Button text #FFFFFFF
    2. Button background #9D2235
    3. Button border none or grey
  6. Copy the script code
  7. Navigate to LibApps by using the blue drop-down menu in the orange bar
  8. In LibApps choose My Profile. 
  9. In the section Widgets, paste the code into the LibCal Widgets section and save. 
  10. Preview your button on the profile box to the right. 

Additional Appointments Customizations

  • On the My Settings tab of Appointments:
    • Customize appointment booking limits and behavior
    • Add Appointment Instructions/Description that will display under the "i" on the public appointments page
    • Customize system-generated email templates
    • Configure patron file uploads
  • On the Booking Forms tab of Appointment
    • Customize your booking forms to request more information from patrons

LibCal and Teams

1. Contact Web Services to have your name added to authorized users for the Teams integration.
2. Login to your LibCal account
3. Click on your account icon in the upper right orange bar.
4.. Choose the Integrations tab

Navigate to your account and Integrations to authorize Teams

5. Click the button to Authorize with Microsoft Account

Click the button to authorize your Teams account

6. You will pass through the familiar campus sign in page and may be asked to grant LibCal permissions. If the authorization is successful, you will be returned and see a green success alert.

Success message on authorizing Teams

Scheduling Events with Teams

  • Using a Teams location means that you must require registration for your event.
  • If you add / edit times or dates after the event is created, you will need to update your registrants with a new Teams link. 
  1. In LibCal events, select Online Event via Teams; you should automatically be chosen as the organizer.
    Choosing Online Event via Microsoft Teams in LbCal
  2. Be sure to require registration; the Teams meeting link will be sent to registrants in their confirmation email.  Any reminder emails will also include the link.
    The confirmation email also includes an *.ics file as an attachment to allow the attendees to easily add the event to their own Outlook or Google calendar. 
    LibCal confirmation email
    NOTE: meeting changes (modifying your event after you have created it) will result in a NEW Teams link.  Make sure to send an update your participants if you modify your event.  Go to Manage > Email Attendees to send the new meeting link to all registrants.

 

  1. Make sure that you have linked your LibCal account with Teams.  

All appointments in the default online Appointments location (Mullins Library > Online > Research Consultation)  are currently booked online with Teams. 

  1. Set your availability  for Appointments at the Mullins Library > Research Consultation > Online location. 
  2. When the student selects the option to book an appointment online, they will see this registration form: 

Make an appointment online in LibCal

  1. When a user makes an appointment with you, a Teams link will automatically be generated and displayed on the confirmation screen as well as in the confirmation email and reminder.

confirmation screen, LibCal appointments

  1. Email you receive:
    Aopointments confirmation email to librarian
  2. Email student receives
    Appointments confirmation email to student
Subjects: Library Science