How to manage your Library in Jostle

In this article, we've compiled a list of tips, ideas and best practices for your Library, from the configuration (System Admins) to the content and maintenance (Category and Volume Librarians) of all your organization's documentation and reference materials.   

After reading, feel free to check out our Library webinar for more great tips and guides.

Table of contents

1. Create an organized Library structure
2. Enlist an expert Library team
3. Target your Volumes to the right audience
4. Link people back into Library
5. Recommend key Items
6. Use Descriptions to make things easier to find
7. Tap into Scheduled Review to make sure content stays fresh
8. Use Sign Off to ensure that key documents get read

Create an organized Library structure

Your Jostle Library is organized into Categories, each of which can hold one or more Volumes. Each Volume has:

• Clear ownership (an identified Volume Librarian or team of Volume Librarians)
• A flexible structure of files and folders (set up by Volume Librarians)
• Visibility permissions that apply to all the files in the Volume (set up by Category Librarians)

To prevent Library from becoming a mess the way file shares always do, it's structure is locked down, as follows:

• The top-level structure is locked down by System Admins, who set the Categories and their Category Librarians.
• The structure of each Category is locked down by its Category Admins, who set its Volumes, including their Volume Librarians and visibility permissions.
• Volume Librarians "own" their Volumes, setting their structure of files and folders, ensuring content is maintained and updated, as required.

Notes:

• Permissions are per Volume, not per file. This helps keep things easy to understand and maintain.
• Users will not see Volumes they don't have viewing permissions for. And they will not see Categories where there are no Volumes they can see.

Tips:

• Create department and location-specific Categories. Set the Visibility so that only relevant employees see these.
• Create an organized and not-too-long Category/Volume structure for you org-wide content.
• If you need the same set of Librarians across multiple Categories or Volumes, define this group as a team in a Chart in Teams view. Then make this Team the Librarian. Then when you update the Team membership, it will update the permissions across all relevant Categories and Volumes.

Enlist an expert Library team

The key to a successful Library is in finding the right subject matter experts to assign as Volume Librarians. They are the vested experts that are in the best position to keep things current and organized. For example, your Benefits Administrator should be the Librarian for the Employee Benefits Volume, since he/she is best positioned to know what the current materials and forms are, and how they are best organized for employees to consume.

Once your Librarians have been selected, it would be a good idea to refer them to this article.

Target your Volumes to the right audience

Each Volume has its own "Visible To" audience that is set by its Category Librarian. Proper use of this feature ensures that the Library content that is displayed is relevant for everyone who can see it. For example, you could have an "Employee Benefits (Canada)" Volume visible to only your Canadian employees and an "Employee Benefits (US)" Volume visible to only your US employees. No confusion, no irrelevant documentation, clear ownership.

Link people back into Library

It is also a good practice to encourage the sharing of a link to a file location in Library, instead of posting or emailing files as attachments. You can email links to Library files or easily share them through News Articles, Activity Updates, Discussions, or Direct Messages. Just right-click on your Library item (or click directly on its three-dot icon) to access the Action Menu) and select "Copy link to Item". This link will only open for people that have view permissions to the Volume it is in.

Recommend key Items

Using the Recommend feature is also a great way to put focus on key documentation and make it stand out to anyone browsing through a Volume. This places a red Recommended "R" on the Item and gets it listed in the Recommended Smart List for everyone who can see it.

Recommending key or frequently-used files, like employee onboarding information and your expense reporting form, makes it even quicker and easier for people to find what they're looking for.

Use Descriptions to make things easier to find

Categories, Volumes and Items (files and links) have Description fields. Add a quick summary or a list of key words here to make it easier to find using Search.

To add a Description to a Library Category, a System Admins should:

1. Navigate to the Category, so that its Volumes are listed in the main panel
2. Click on the i-icon top right to open the Category Info Panel
3. Click on Edit to the right of the Category Name at the top
4. Enter a Description
5. Click Save at the top

To add a Description to a Library Volume, it's Category Librarian should:

1. Navigate to the Volume, so that its content listed in the main panel
2. Click on the i-icon top right to open the Volume Info Panel
3. Click on Edit to the right of the Volume Name at the top
4. Enter a Description
5. Click Save at the top

To add a Description to a Library Item, it's Volume Librarian should:

1. Navigate to the Item in the Volume
2. Click on the Action Menu (three dots) to the right of the Item Name
3. Select Info to open the Item Info Panel
4. Click on Edit to the right of the Item Name at the top
5. Enter a Description
6. Click Save at the top

Tap into Scheduled Review to make sure content stays fresh

Scheduled Review requires that a Item Contact reviews a file on a prescribed cadence (such as annually). This is a key strategy for ensuring that key content does not become out of date.

Schedule Review also creates clear records that make compliance audits much easier. It become easy to gather the evidence of who reviewed which policies when.

Learn more about Scheduled Review here.

Use Sign Off to ensure that key documents get read

Sign Off requires each person that can see a Library Item to confirm they have read and understood it. It's a great add to your onboarding and training processes.

Sign Off creates clear records and reports of who signed off on what when. It becomes much easier to demonstrate to an auditor that required training happened.

Learn more about Library Sign Off here.